Searching for the Lyon
by withgirl
Summary: Regina is Hades and Emma is a sheltered princess whose parents defied the goddess of the underworld. On the princess's 21st birthday, Hades arrives to get what she was promised, the first child of Snow White and Prince Charming. After such a wait, however, the goddess believes she deserves much more than just another soul in her kingdom. [Emma x Regina pairing] *Slow-burn* Greek AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This idea was brought to my attention by my lovely beta QueenApples, she came across it on Tumblr from reginasblazers, so that's who the original idea belongs to :)**

Prologue

Emma sat at a table and tilted her head at the millionth floral arrangement she had created during her life. Her parents never wanted her to leave the grounds of the White palace, and beyond studying, this was the only thing she found that brought her joy. There was a certain perfection in being able to bring flowers together into harmony, she had now even taken to choosing those blooms that most considered to be ugly and managed to bring them together into a breath-taking arrangement. Some of the servants had even jokingly began to call her Persephone, which she obviously took as a compliment.

"My Lady, your parents are requesting your presence in the throne room," a servant called from the door.

Emma bowed her head and stood to follow him to her parents. She was sure that it was just another suitor, something that she honestly wasn't prepared for, but whatever Snow White and Prince Charming wanted, they got, so she dutifully entered the grand throne room.

Instantly, she furrowed brow as she saw that there wasn't some prince offering her an irritating smile as he attempted to win her hand in marriage in order to create some inter-kingdom relationship or something like that. She knew that it was naïve, but she wanted to marry for love as her parents had, but she had been told time and again that they were lucky that their true love happened to be another royal.

The blonde princess bowed her head to the king and queen and said, "you requested my presence, mother, father."

They each nodded and Snow bit her lip as she considered her next words, "Emma dear, you know that there is a reason we have not allowed you to leave this castle."

Emma nodded and replied, "you said that I was too young to understand, mother."

"When the clock strikes midnight you will be twenty-one, I believe it is about time that we told you the truth," Charming sighed, the two of them had clearly been arguing about this for a while, and judging by how reluctant the blonde man was to continue, Emma guessed that he was against her learning the truth. After years of confinement, she had completely given up on discovering the reason, she just chose to believe that her parents had her best interest at heart.

"Before you were born, I made a deal," Snow began, "your father was gravely injured and I was in no way prepared to allow him to die. Hades offered me a deal, my first child in exchange for my husband's life."

Emma blinked a few times, words completely failed her as she considered the words.

Her mother took this opportunity to continue, "you must understand, I thought I was incapable of having children then, you were a miracle Emma. When you was born I asked the Blue Fairy to protect this castle against Hades, and she did. But Hades is a god, the fairy's magic was only so powerful, the enchantment will end the day you turn twenty-one."

"Hades?" Emma said slowly. She knew exactly who the goddess of the underworld was, the notoriously cruel ruler had dominion over the dammed and the tales said that she was rather adept at making a soul suffer for their sins.

"In my realm, I am simply called Regina," a smooth voice announced, accompanied by the sound of the clock striking midnight in the background.

Snow let out a little sob as she inspected the immortal completely unchanged from the last time that they had met. The brunette woman was completely donned in black leather, a dark smirk hung on her lips, after all, she had waited years to get what was promised her. It had sincerely bothered her that she didn't get the soul she deserved, often she considered that she should have allowed the prince to die just so she could watch the deceitful princess mourn her true love.

Emma turned to look at the woman and she couldn't help her mouth falling open. She knew that she should probably be afraid, but her first reaction was extreme attraction. Hades, or Regina, was completely dark and went against everything that the White kingdom stood for, which made her utterly intriguing.

"Please, take me instead," Snow as tearfully.

Regina tilted her head and laughed slightly, "I'm afraid that wasn't the deal, but then again, neither was hiding your child from me for twenty-one years, so I believe that I am entitled to more than what was agreed."

"What do you mean?" Charming asked cautiously.

"I mean that instead of simply taking your daughter's soul to the underworld, I think I shall take her as my wife."

 **A/N Let me know if you're interested in reading more :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

"I won't allow it!" David roared, but the goddess of the Underworld didn't even bat an eye at the non-threatening man.  
"I don't see that you have much choice in the matter," Regina sneered.  
The blonde man was about to draw his sword but he found his arm enveloped in a purple glow.  
"You would think the man who i allowed to live would be more grateful," the brunette sighed in faux hurt, "a life cannot simply be returned without a price. You're lucky that I wasn't in a unforgiving mood and sent one of my Furys, they can be relentless and you wouldn't want that for your innocent little girl, now would you?"  
Emma looked genuinely insulted at the insinuation, she was about to protest until Regina turned to look at her with a quirked eyebrow and she found that she forgot how to speak.  
The brunette chuckled at the woman, though she trying not to think about how adorable her expression was because a goddess would never think that of a pathetic mortal.  
"Can we end this charade please? I am growing bored."  
"I will not allow you to take my daughter," David said through clenched teeth, "it was my life that should have been lost so take me to the Underworld."  
"But how would that atone for the decades of suffering I endured as a result of your deceit?" Regina replied in a deceptively calm voice, "I would prefer not to spend an eternity knowing that two mortals were able to live twenty one years without paying the price that I was promised."  
Both Snow and Charming looked to their daughter, they each knew that this day would come and had argued for years about warning the blonde. But Snow had always insisted that it would do no good to frighten the blonde, especially since there was nothing that she could do to stop it. But neither of them had imagined that Hades would demand Emma's hand in marriage instead of simply taking her soul to the Underworld. At least if that had been the punishment then the princess may have gotten the chance at peace. But as the wife of the ruler of the land of the dead, who knew what kind of hell she would suffer?  
Despite all of this, Emma herself looked relatively calm. She didn't seem afraid of Regina in the same way as other people, she seemed more nervous than anything. Then again this was the woman who hadn't left the castle in her entire life, maybe she didn't know what danger looked like?  
"Your daughter doesn't seem as against this as you are," Regina laughed as she realised why each royal was staring so intently at the blonde, almost as if they were willing her to be afraid.

"She doesn't understand life outside of this palace," Snow said through gritted teeth.

"And whose fault is that?" Regina sneered.

"Yours!" the queen bellowed.

"I believe that it was your choice to keep her in this palace, it was your fear of her death that prevented her from living. But not to worry, she will have quite the adventure in the Underworld."

Before either Charming or Snow could protest again, Regina waved her hand and purple clouds of smoke enveloped both herself and her new bride.

Snow let out a cry of sorrow, she believed that the dumbfounded expression on Emma's face would be her final image of her daughter.

* * *

"Not very cheery, is it?" Emma asked as she followed Regina away from the River Styx.

Regina looked over her shoulder at the woman and narrowed her eyes at the wonder clearly written across her face, this was not the usual reaction of people who entered her dominion.

"I mean, it couldn't hurt to have some flowers…"

"No sun means no flowers," the brunette replied flatly and turned to continue her walk towards her throne room. She honestly didn't know why she didn't just kill the blonde in front of her parents and then savour that image for the rest of her immortal life, but somehow when she saw the blonde for the first time, it didn't feel right. Not that she in anyway believed that this mortal could actually be the wife she had yearned for so many centuries, this Princess Emma was simply a substitute for the person she was truly supposed to be with. Instantly, she closed her eyes against the thought of her past and then opened them to resume her mask of indifference, even if the blonde couldn't see her face in this moment.

Completely oblivious to the internal conflict of the goddess, Emma continued to look around, "why are those people wandering around aimlessly?"

With a huff, Regina stopped walking and the woman crashed into her back, within a second, she spun around and looked at her critically, "this childish wonder is beginning to wear thin."

Emma blinked a few times, but unlike many others, she still seem afraid of the brunette. She was used to quivering lips and averted eyes, not wonderment and the slight tug of a grin.

"It was just a question."

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "they are wondering because they are in the Fields of Asphodel. They were neither heroic enough for Elysium nor evil enough for the Fields of Punishment. They are simply the souls of the insignificant masses."

The blonde nodded slowly and watched a few of the pained expressions as they walked in no particular direction, whispering about regrets and missed opportunities.

"You don't seem as though you really want a wife," Emma said picking up the pace to keep up with the woman.

"And you seem oddly calm for someone who has just been kidnapped by the ruler of the Underworld," Regina replied over her shoulder.

The princess was silent for a moment, she had no idea why she was being so calm about this entire situation, it was just that the moment she saw Regina she felt something strange that she had only read about in books. She was sure that it was the attraction that her mother said she was supposed to feel towards the male suitors who came to see her, but she never did. Killian Jones of the adjoining kingdom had perhaps piqued her interest, but it was nothing compared to what she felt when she saw the goddess.

Said goddess rolled her eyes when the princess made no attempt to reply, she found it extremely odd that she was wishing for the blonde to have some kind of quip. She was surprisingly confident for a girl who had never left the confinement of the White palace, or perhaps, she simply had never had the opportunity to experience true fear.

They continued to walk in silence, the younger woman had resumed her inspection of her new home, though she purposely averted her eyes away from the Fields of Punishment.

Eventually, a large obsidian structure came into view and Emma's eyes widened.

It looked almost exactly like the palace that she had never left, only its bricks were pure black, however, a moment later, she discovered that it looked nothing like her former home on the inside.

The walls were sparingly decorated, there seemed to be nothing personal insight, but then again, what need would an immortal have for sentimentality?

She continued to follow the goddess until they reached a throne room with much more obsidian.

Regina strode straight to the throne and sat upon it, and narrowed her eyes as Emma continued to look around curiously, she really wanted to know why this woman was already so frustrating to her.

She snapped her finger and a trembling man appeared in a cloud of smoke.

"H-Hades," Graham, or Panic as he was more commonly known, bowed.

"Show her to her bed chambers," she commanded.

Emma tilted her head and said, "my own bed chambers?"

"Is there an issue, princess?" Regina sneered.

The blonde quickly shook her head and said, "I just wondering when…"

"I see no need to rest on ceremony, the moment I announced it, we were already married, now please leave my sight."

The princess blinked a few times, that was not exactly how she had envisioned her wedding playing out, but then again she also never envisioned that she would be wife to Hades.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked.

"Anything you want," Regina sighed and turned away from her.

Graham motioned for her to follow him, and she did so absentmindedly she repeated in a whisper, "anything I want?"

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, I would love to hear what you thought.**

 **As always, I need to thank QueenApples, my beta XD**

 **I also need to thank my own personal mythology advisor PertidusFic (a.k.a my awesome best friend who I like to call Mackerel XD, don't ask haha), check out her fics if you want, I'm her beta and I would very much recommend them :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

-The next day-

"Er…your majesty," Graham said cautiously as he stared out of the window.

Regina looked up from her position lounged on the throne where she had been languidly flicking through a book for ten minutes.

"What is it?" she sighed without even looking up from the page.

"Your…bride seems to be exploring the palace grounds," he said nervously.

The brunette rolled her eyes and snapped the book shut, "I still don't see the issue."

Graham saw the anger in her eyes and considered dropping the subject, but he had a feeling that there was more in the blonde's future than being ignored by her wife.

"Aren't those poisonous?" he stuttered.

Regina huffed and walked over to the window to see Emma walking through the courtyard surrounded by thorns filled with nightshade.

"What is she doing?" the brunette asked.

"I suppose this is how far she has gotten with doing what she wants," her servant replied and winced slightly as she hopped over a vine.

Regina narrowed her eyes as the thorn came close to her ankle and turned away from Graham so that he wouldn't see her look of worry, "what is your point?"

"I..I just thought that maybe you wouldn't wish for her to die in her exploration," he said almost pleadingly as if he didn't want to be punished.

"Well then, she will need a guide," Hades replied and tried to casually walk back over to her throne, "I believe one such as yourself will be well prepared to advise her on the perils of the Underworld."

Graham furrowed his brow, he hadn't considered that his mistress actually cared about the blonde, he assumed that she would tell him to shut up so that she could continue reading. But then again, he had certainly noticed that the immortal wasn't being quite as cruel as he knew her to be capable of.

"Really?" he squeaked, his panicky disposition usually meant that he was unwilling to leave the palace, but he was still quite well versed in the dangers of his home, mostly so he knew what to avoid.

Regina didn't even bother replying and simply waved her hand to send the snivelling man to the courtyard.

Graham blinked a few times, but quickly shouted, "stop!"

Emma turned around and looked at him in surprise, though a part of herself couldn't help but note just how awesome the magic was. The art of the magical had always been something she had fantasied about in her confinement, she had imagined herself as a powerful sorceress whose parents wouldn't be able to tell her where she could go and when. But even in her teen years, she had seen the urgency of staying the palace, especially her father had pulled her into a fierce hug when her twelve year old self had nearly left the grounds by accident during her riding lesson.

"What's wrong?" she laughed.

The man looked at her arm that was a mere inch away from scraping across a thorn and he ran over and pulled her forward, taking care to avoid the poisonous plant himself.

"It's Dreamshade," he sighed in relief when she was no longer exceptionally close to it.

The princess turned and looked at it with a tilted head, "I think I've read about it."

"Well clearly it didn't prepare you to be near it," Graham sighed and then furrowed his brow at the smile on the young woman's face. "What?"

"This place is just so…wonderful."

"That is not a word most would associate with the Underworld, especially when they were just an inch from meeting a slow, painful death," Panic sighed again, he had a feeling that he would be sighing a lot in frustration in the coming months.

"Not that part, obviously, I just meant that it's intriguing and fun and…free," she giggled and twirled around, once again he pulled her back before she could be poisoned in her excitement.

"You just left the palace, I wouldn't say that the courtyard is all that spectacular," he replied with a roll of his eyes.

The blonde quickly looked around and spun on her heels, "you're right! I can go further," she said determinedly moving towards the exit.

"Wait," Graham shouted and after a moment he finally caught up with her. "The land of Hades is not a playground for childish mortals. It is dangerous, you would be better off if you stayed in your bed chambers."

Emma just shook her head and replied, "but no one said that I have to."

"Wow, you have issues," Graham mumbled, but if the woman heard she didn't comment on the insult, she seemed far too excited.

They finally reached the front gate and the man grabbed her arm, "You can't…go alone," he said against his better judgement, he certainly didn't want to go adventuring with the human, but he also didn't want to find out what would happen if his master's new wife was to meet a grisly end, even if Regina seemed intent upon indifference towards the blonde.

"So you'll give me a tour?" she asked, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Yes," he replied through gritted teeth, "but you should probably change into something more suitable for an...adventure."

She looked down and for the first time realised that she was still wearing the same simple white dress that she had left her home in. It wasn't as if she was able to even think about sleep the night before so she had spent hour looking around the palace and as fascinating as the building was, it had nothing on the prospect of being allowed to go out and visit the outside world, even if this world didn't have a sun.

"I don't have any other clothes," she said almost to herself, her throat constricted ever so slightly as it hit her that she didn't have any of the possessions she had collected over her life, but her urge to explore was far greater in this moment.

"Right this way," Graham grumbled and led her back to the palace.

* * *

"Are you ready?" the brunette man asked with a sigh.

Emma nodded and walked down the steps to the front gate, for the first time outside of riding lessons, she was dressed in pants coupled with some black boots and a dark blue leather tunic over a white shirt, and she felt utterly comfortable.

"I can't believe Hades gave me a stocked wardrobe," she said as she fiddled with one of the buttons.

"She can make anything happen with her magic and she can be surprisingly considerate at times," Graham replied, and the blonde noticed a slight wince as they passed the Fields of Punishment, the blonde was actually grateful that it wouldn't be one of the places that she would be visiting, eternal damnation didn't seem like a good place to start anyway.

"Where first?" he asked.

Emma bit her lip and looked around, "I don't know."

"Just choose a direction," Graham sighed.

The blonde nodded and looked around, then with a grin she realised that she would be able to explore the whole land without limits from others.

As a result she just chose a random direction and began walking, followed closely by her 'guide'.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, I would love to hear what you thought XD**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

-One week later-

"No!" Graham shouted.

Like every other time the man had shouted, Emma rolled her eyes and turned to look at him expectantly, she couldn't exactly complain about all of the things he had protected her from, but it was hard to feel as though the panicky man wasn't some kind of watcher.

"That's the River Lethe," he explained, "if you get one drop on yourself you'll completely forget who you are."

"Thank you for the warning," the blonde replied as she turned on her heels and walked over to the rapidly moving river.

"What are you doing?" Graham squeaked and ran up behind her.

"I've been warned, Graham," the blonde said without turning around and fell into a crouch to look at the river.

"Don't touch it."

The blonde just nodded and continued to look at the water, "tell me about it."

The brunette sighed deeply, this is what happened at every landmark that they had come across so far, she asked him to tell her a story about them. Apparently, the myths that she had read were completely inaccurate.

"This is one of the five rivers of the Underworld, the shades of the dead must drink its waters in order to be re-born. Those who wish to achieve Elysium must do this three times."

The princess looked across the river to Elysium and she smiled broadly, "Elysium? So there are real heroes in just across this river?"

"I suppose…" Graham said reluctantly.

Emma shot to her feet and jumped across the river in one quick swift motion.

Graham let out a garbled sound and then a sigh of relief when he saw her standing safely on the other side.

"Are you coming?" she called and then turned on her heels and began walking towards the land of the blessed.

* * *

Graham walked into the throne room and fell against the wall with a huff.

He had never had such an eventual week in his long existence, nor had he ever travelled so far across the dominion in which he lived.

"Something wrong?" Regina asked from the throne that she was lounging on, it was deceptively like she cared, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't him she was asking after. Even if she hadn't made any form of contact with the woman that she was betrothed to.

"Emma found Elysium," he sighed.

"And?"

"She wants to go back tomorrow and meet some 'heroes'," Graham grumbled, luckily she had simply wandered around and had decided that it was a place she would like to be more rested to explore.

"Why would she want that?" Regina asked with a grimace.

Graham rose his eyebrow and decided not to comment on the fact that the woman seemed hurt by the thought that Emma wanted to spend time with heroes, "because she is a grown woman who had never had her child-like wonder crushed by the outside world."

Regina was silent for a moment, until she finally asked something that had been on her mind, even if she was trying to convince herself that she didn't think about Emma nearly as much as she did.

"Has she yet to complain about being forced to live here?"

The brunette man gave this some thought and then replied, "honestly, it doesn't seem like you have forced her to do anything. She loves exploring."

"But what will happen when she has no new things to discover?" Regina said almost to herself.

Graham bit his lip, but he found that he was no longer able to hold his tongue, "if you wish to spend time with her, you need only ask her."

Regina's head snapped up and Graham felt almost as if his entire body had been paralysed by her deathly gaze, "whatever do you mean by that?"

"Err...I just thought that perhaps you wish more from this Emma than simply keeping her in the Underworld. She doesn't seem as though she would be particularly adverse to building a relationship with you," he said after swallowing hard.

Hades narrowed her eyes, and stood from the throne, "I did not take her as my wife to 'build a relationship', she is merely here so that she isn't with her insufferable parents. I couldn't care less what she does while she lives out her pathetic little life."

"But…"

"That mortal could never replace Persephone!" Regina's voice echoed, and Graham was surprised that he didn't instantly turn into a quivering mess.

He nodded and attempted to move back while she stalked towards him only to realise that he was already standing against the wall.

Regina looked the man up and down, before she rolled her eyes and swept her way out of the throne room, leaving Graham desperately trying to catch his lost breath.

* * *

"Are you truly not afraid of anything?" Graham asked the blonde as she began to walk once again towards Elysium.

"I suppose I must be afraid of something, but I just haven't had the chance to experience it yet," she shrugged.

"You never experienced fear?" he repeated, it certainly explained how relaxed she seemed around Regina.

"There wasn't much that could have harmed me in a castle with constant posted guards," Emma shrugged.

Graham nodded even though she wasn't looking at him, and asked, "you don't miss it at all?"

The blonde bit her lip and looked stoically ahead, "I miss my parents," she said slowly, "but there isn't anything else in that world for me."

"How would you know?" he shot back.

Emma furrowed her brow for a moment, but then she just let out a laugh, "good point, but it's hard to imagine that anything in the Enchanted Forest could be as spectacular as the abode of a goddess."

Graham rolled his eyes and continued to follow her, though this wasn't the first time he had experienced it, the feeling of passing into Elysium was still a rather strange one. The bleak colours of the Underworld seemed to shift to those of a summer's day, he understood that the area looked different to each of the inhabitants, but at the moment it just looked like a normal village. He imagined that it had something to do with Emma, obviously the area had somehow deemed her worthy to see what she wanted to.

"Are you just going to start introducing yourself to people?" Graham sighed, "I don't think they would take well to having met the wife of Hades."

"Will you calm down?" Emma replied, at the moment she was more interested in the surroundings than the people. The area had just looked like any other place in the underworld the day before.

Though Graham knew that Regina would deny involvement, it was rather strange that it changed once the ruler of the Underworld found out just where Emma would be exploring on that day.

Emma wandered over to the blacksmiths where a man was pounding heavily on a sword, he stopped and looked up at the curious woman with a quirked eyebrow.

"Something wrong?" he asked, though it sounded much more good natured than she had expected from the hulking man.

"What're the weapons for?" she asked rather childishly.

He looked her up and down and replied, "for the tournament."

The blonde's eyes widened in excitement and she turned to Graham with a huge smile on her face, "tournament."

"Excuse us," the brunette said to the blacksmith and pulled Emma aside, "every person in Elysium has already lived and therefore cannot die, you, however, are still a very fragile human who I am assuming would feel rather disconcerted when you are instantly transported to the fields of Asphodel."

"You have got to calm down," the blonde whispered back, "I meant we could watch."

"Oh," he replied as his shoulders relaxed.

"I would need to train before I could compete anyway," she called over her shoulder, already running off.

Graham allowed his face to fall into his hands and let out the biggest sigh yet.

 **A/N Hope you guys liked it, let me know what you thought XD**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

 _Regina leaned her head against the wall, she couldn't even find it within herself to be angry in this moment._

 _The ruler of the Underworld is the lot that her dear family chose to bequeath upon her?_

 _Her immortal future looked undeniably bleak, but there was one bright spot._

 _"How did it go?" Ruby asked excitedly, she had been anxiously anticipating the abode that Regina would be given, she had already been assigned her role of Persephone and she couldn't wait to find out where she and her future wife would spend their eternal existence._

 _Regina looked up at her fellow brunette and she instantly saw the sorrow in her eyes and rushed forward to put her hands on her shoulder, "what happened?" Ruby asked worriedly._

 _"My dear sister chose for me," she replied bitterly_

 _Ruby sighed and nodded, she knew that there was some issues between her love and her sister, but she had no idea that Zelena could be so bitter as to ruin the younger woman's life. "How bad can it be?" she said and tried for a smile as she lightly stroked the other woman's cheek._

 _Regina leaned into the touch slightly and then sighed contently for a moment before she whispered, "Hades."_

 _Ruby's eyes widened and her hand dropped to her side, and she instantly felt terrible at the pain contained in her love's eyes, but she couldn't pretend that she was okay with this._

 _"The Underworld?" she choked out, "but you were just as important in defeating the Titans as any of your siblings, how could you let them do this to you?"_

 _"I was rather outnumbered!" Regina said defensively._

 _Persephone softened and brought her fellow brunette in for a hug, "I'm sorry, it's just a lot to take in," she said against her ear._

 _Regina pulled back slightly and smiled weakly at Ruby, "I know," she sighed._

 _The taller woman lightly ran her hand through the other's hair and said with unconvincing excitement, "so…we'll live in the Underworld."_

 _Hades thought for a moment, she knew that she should probably be happy that her love was agreeing to their marriage despite the image of their future, but it somehow felt wrong. Persephone couldn't be happy in a land without sun, she wouldn't be able to preside over vegetation, she just wouldn't be happy. At the same time, however, Regina felt as though she wouldn't be able to spend eternity without the woman she loved, and so instead of airing her protests, she allowed her lips to meet her companions in a promise of their future._

Regina opened her eyes and instantly scowled at the memory, it was very rare that she would ever dream, especially about Persephone. She had, after all, spent a great deal of time trying to repress the memories of the happiness she had before Zelena, more commonly known as Zeus, decided that she wasn't worthy of ruling from Olympus like the rest of her family.

After a moment, she sat up and looked around her chambers. She honestly didn't feel like getting up, but at the same time she didn't want to risk having another dream and she knew exactly who to talk to about it.

Raising from her bed, she went over to her dresser and tapped the mirror, instantly a male face appeared in it, his face contorted in pain, a state that Sidney found himself in constantly. She would feel bad for him if this hadn't been his eternal punishment, he wasn't quite to the level of those in the Fields of Punishment, but he definitely deserved something and she figured that she deserved a servant who wasn't afraid of his own shadow.

"How can I help you?" he asked in a sickly sweet voice, clearly he was finally understanding that being rude would only increase his pain.

"Is Hypnos currently in the Underworld?" she scowled.

Sidney furrowed his brow, Regina had never asked after the god of sleep before, she always seemed to consider him a kind of joke and refused to acknowledge that he was one of her only potential companions in the Underworld.

"I believe so, but…he's asleep."

Regina rolled her eyes and said, "I'll wake him up then."

With that, she turned on her heels and made to leave her chambers until Sidney said, "why?"

The woman turned back around and fixed him with a glare, but unlike Graham he didn't cower away or try to deny what he had said. Although, he clearly wasn't a complete moron as a glimpse of fear flashed across his face.

"It doesn't concern you," she growled.

"Perhaps I could help," he replied after a small hesitation.

Regina thought about this for a moment, it was rather dramatic to go and bother Hypnos after one dream, perhaps it was just a one-off, or rather, it better just be an one-off.

"I seem to be afflicted with memories that I would rather not be forced to relive," she admitted and fell into the stool before the dresser.

Sidney was silent for a moment, he knew that his statement would probably anger the woman, but he also knew that he was kept in this living hell because Regina couldn't murder the immortal Graham.

"Perhaps your new bride has forced these feelings to surface," he suggested.

Regina narrowed her eyes again and said, "and what would make you think such a foolish notion to be true?"

"Well…she is rather beautiful, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'm not denying her beauty, Sidney, but complexion alone is not enough to…" she trailed off, almost no one knew what happened between her and Ruby and she would rather not start sharing now.

"She has been here for a mere week and you have yet to communicate with her. If she is going to be here for some time then perhaps you should take advantage of another companion."

Regina blinked a few times, she hadn't considered what she would do with Emma once she had gotten to the Underworld, she was far too focused on hurting her parents to think about what would happen after.

"She seems intent upon exploring, I doubt she would wish for her adventure to be interrupted," Regina replied, and Sidney decided it would be better to not comment on how out of character her near pout was.

"She comes back every night, and she will soon become sick of just Graham's company…"

"What are you saying?" Regina asked further narrowing her eyes.

"I'm simply suggesting that you court your wife."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N This chapter contains an OC named Dawn and she belongs to PerditusFic, she's from 'The Hatter' which I am now the co-author for, so please check out it out if you find her interesting :) Also for those wondering, there is a reason why I didn't make Maleficent Persephone :)**

Chapter seven

Emma ran happily up the stands and took an empty seat and set her full attention on the sword fight happening on the sand below.

Graham sighed once again and fell into the seat next to her, he figured that the blonde could be doing something far more dangerous than watching other people fight, so in this moment he was silently thankful for the respite from his nerves.

That was until five minutes later when a brunette teen came and sat next to him with a smirk.

Graham looked at her questioningly and her smirk only deepened as she crossed her arms and leaned back, a motion he quickly copied so that Emma wouldn't see her.

Emma noticed her guide was being stranger than usual out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at him, "what are you doing?"

"Nothing…" he squeaked.

The girl laughed and leaned forward without warning and into Emma's vision, "he's trying to hide me."

She blinked a couple of times, the eighteen-year-old looked distinctly familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen those chocolate brown eyes.

She laughed at her vacant expression and said, "it's nice to meet you too, mom."

Emma's eyes widened more than should have been humanly possible and she continued to stare at the girl until she burst out laughing uncontrollably. Finally she calmed down slightly and said, "calm down, blondie."

Graham rolled his eyes and said, "you can't really blame her for being freaked out, Dawn."

"What? Step-mother doesn't have the same ring to it," Dawn chuckled

"You're Regina's daughter?" Emma realised.

"Oh, the princess can talk," she said rather mockingly.

Emma took a moment to inspect her, it explained why she looked so familiar, now that she thought about it, she was basically a teenage copy of the ruler of the Underworld.

"Why haven't I met you before today?"

"Because you don't spend much time in the palace," Dawn replied almost accusatorily.

The blonde was about to protest, but she closed her mouth with a furrowed brow, "okay, you have a point."

"You could stand to spend time with your wife," the teen thought aloud after a moment of silence.

Emma bit her lip, she had kind of forgotten about the whole married part of this, she had been so caught up in her week long adventure that she hadn't realised she hadn't spent more than a minute with the woman she was supposedly married to.

"I…assumed that she had no intention of spending time with me," the blonde admitted.

Dawn looked stunned for a moment, that was certainly not the answer she had been anticipating, "you're not afraid of my mother?"

Emma let out an exasperated sigh, "why do people keep asking me if I'm afraid?"

"Because most people kidnapped by the ruler of the Underworld wouldn't see it as an adventure, they would be terrified and begging to go home," Dawn shot back.

"Why would I want to go home? I'll admit that I would love to see my parents again, but I do not wish to spend the rest of my life locked away. This week has given me a taste of freedom and I love it."

"Do you love the person who gave you that freedom?" Dawn asked, leaning closer while completely ignoring Graham's warning look.

"I…I haven't spent any time with her."

"But you're not terrified when you are in her presence? You can see yourself willingly being with my mom?" the teen asked eagerly.

Emma tilted her head and considered this.

Hades was an objectively bad person, in every story that she had ever read she was depicted as the villain inflicting terrible fates upon mortals and enjoying it. But, when reading of the woes of these mortals, Emma had always thought that the Underworld was not a design of its ruler, it was just the lot of the cosmos that she had been given. Even though Zeus was supposed to be the ultimate leader of Olympians, it was hard to deny that she had just as many misdeeds as her sibling, if not more. It wasn't as if Regina decided when or how someone died, just what they deserved in the afterlife. Plus it didn't hurt that Emma was completely captivated by the goddess's beauty.

"Of course I'm willing, I suppose I just assumed that I was not truly her wife, almost like she said it just to hurt my parents."

"Trust me, you are her wife," Dawn assured.

Emma nodded and was about to further the conversation, until a loud cheering erupted and she turned just in time to see the gladiator take down his competitor.

She watched in fascination as he fell to the ground in defeat and then her eyes widened and she looked at Graham questioningly.

As usual, the man was tense, but he still waved his hand dismissively, "its just for show, he can't die again."

The blonde sighed in relief and fell back, although she was no longer just thinking about more than just the partial match she had seen, no matter how awesome it had been.

She was now realising some of the implications of what being here meant, it hadn't quite registered that she was truly married, to a goddess no less. When she was younger she had imagined her wedding many times, but never her marriage. She had no real idea what it entailed, and to make matters worse, she knew almost nothing about her wife.

* * *

"Why do you care?" Dawn asked casually.

Regina narrowed her eyes at her daughter and said, "unlike you, Dawn, she is not immortal. If she was hurt…"

"You would be sad?" she returned mockingly.

"Did you only come here to mock me?" Regina sighed.

Dawn laughed and unhitched herself from the wall, "do I need a reason to visit my dear mother?"

Regina raised her eyebrow and she finally relented, "I wanted to meet your bride, and I must say, I'm quite impressed."

The older woman bit her lip to stop herself from smiling, she didn't want to be happy that her daughter liked Emma, after all, it didn't matter.

"Well then you've wasted your time, she is my wife only by title."

"And you want to change that?" Dawn asked rather excitedly, she hated seeing her mother so lonely, it was only worsened when she had gone to the surface to pursue her own romantic interests.

"Why does everyone seem to be so obsessed with this princess? She is simply here because I had a vendetta against her parents," Regina said unconvincingly.

Dawn just crossed her arms and looked at her mother expectantly, who finally let out a huff.

"Okay, that may not be all, but she is far too caught up in her adventures to even think about such trivial matters."

"Love is not trivial."

"You have been spending far too much time with that mortal…what's his name…Derek?"

"You know his name is Devin, and stop deflecting," Dawn laughed.

Regina rolled her eyes and said, "very well, what exactly is your plan?"

"It's simple, you're having dinner with your wife tonight."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, let me know what you thought XD**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

"She wants to have dinner tonight?!" Regina bellowed and Graham winced.

"Technically, she just thinks that you want to have dinner tonight," he stuttered.

Regina narrowed her eyes and said, "and what would give her that idea?"

"Dawn," he admitted.

The brunette sighed heavily and fell into her throne, she didn't know why the thought of having dinner with a mere mortal would cause this strange feeling in her stomach, or at least, she didn't want to know.

"What time?" she grumbled.

"Dawn told her to be in the dining room in an hour, she said that there was no way that you would ever 'make the first move,'" he explained, still slightly cowering in the corner.

"And what do you suppose the princess enjoys to eat?"

Graham bit his lip, he wondered when the last time was that the woman had thought about another's preferences.

"Dawn said that has all been organised, you just have to be present," he replied.

"Why is my daughter so intent upon something coming out of my marriage?" she sighed again, though he had a feelings that it was supposed to be a growl.

"I…don't know your majesty," he said with a bow of his head, he didn't relish the thought of telling her the truth. If Dawn thought that he mother was lonely, then she could tell her herself.

Regina saw that he was lying but just rolled her eyes, "very well, that will be all."

"Actually…" he began, but he snapped his mouth shut under her gaze.

She raised her eyebrows expectantly and he cleared his throat to continue.

"Dawn suggested that you get Emma flowers."

"Why?" Regina asked, sounding genuinely offended.

"Because, it's romantic, mom," came from the entrance to the throne room.

The ruler of the Underworld looked over and tilted her head, "I thought you would already be back with Devin."

"And miss the chance to see my dear mother falling in love with the princess? Not chance," she laughed as she leaned back against the pillar Graham was all but cowering behind.

Regina shook her head and chose not to dignify that with a response, "where do you suppose I get flowers?"

"You're a goddess, I'm sure you can figure something out. Speaking of which, you may want to go and change."

Regina looked down at the black leather she was wearing and asked, "why?"

"It's…a little scary," Graham supplied when Dawn looked to him for help.

"You are afraid of everything," the brunette pointed out and tried not to laugh when he twitched at her little step forward.

"I think, what he is trying to say is that…Emma has lived a sheltered life and it may be a little much for her first date," Dawn tried.

Regina rolled her eyes, mostly at the little pang she got in her stomach when she was reminded just how innocent the princess was.

"Very well, I'll change," with that she turned on her heels and started making her way towards the entrance.

"And get flowers," Dawn called after her.

"And get flowers," Regina repeated rather mockingly without looking over her shoulder.

* * *

Silence reigned over the dining room as Emma tentatively ate her soup.

She had to admit that it was rather strange spending this much time with Regina, even more so as it was beginning to register more fully that the woman sitting opposite her was indeed her wife.

Regina tried not to laugh as the blonde was trying to covertly shoot her looks, then her smile dropped when the thought of how adorable the woman looked. She was supposed to be the feared ruler of the Underworld, she couldn't find this blonde little princess 'adorable.'

Eventually, she decided that it would be better to break the silence to stop these ridiculous thoughts from trying to take over her mind.

"Graham tells me that you are enjoying my dominion," she said smoothly.

Emma felt her cheeks instantly go red at the sound of the other woman's voice, she had forgotten just how captivating Regina was.

She quickly nodded when she realised that she had been staring at her like a moron for a solid five seconds, "I have," she managed to say.

Regina quirked her eyebrow, she hadn't realised that she was able to fluster the blonde so easily, Graham had told her that the princess was basically fearless.

"Most mortals wouldn't find much enjoyment in living in the Underworld, but here you are, relishing every moment," she commented as casually as possible.

Emma took a deep breath and decided to just go for it, if she was going to be spending the rest of her life here, she had to learn to talk to the brunette.

"This realm is interesting and I can do something new every day. I would take that over being locked in a castle for twenty-one years, after a certain age I had experienced everything that my home had to offer."

They feel into silence again, but this time Emma noticed a small twitch in Regina's jaw as she ate her meal.

She smiled slightly and said, "you feel guilty?"

Regina's eyes instantly narrowed and she looked up to fix the blonde with a glare, "gods don't 'feel guilty'."

For a split second, Emma thought she might have discovered the emotion that Graham felt none stop, but whatever it was quickly melted away. For some reason, she just knew that Regina wouldn't hurt her.

"You feel guilty because I was locked away because of the deal you made with my parents."

"You're parents made that deal believing that they would be able to fool me. I could have just allowed Snow White to lose her True Love to death…"

"Then why didn't you?" the blonde asked with a tilted head.

Regina bit her lip, this was not technically something that mortals should be aware of, but she figured that there could be no harm at this point.

"Because Prince David is on his third cycle of life, if he had died due to simple poisoning, then he wouldn't have been allowed access to Elysium," she sighed.

Emma blinked a few times, it was certainly strange to think that her father was worthy of paradise, especially considering that he had spent two other lives without Snow. Granted, he would have been a different person with different memories, but she was pretty sure that he didn't do anything without Snow first saying yes.

"You saved him so that he didn't waste his last chance?"

Regina looked down to her soup and nodded.

A huge smile spread across the blonde's face and she said, "thank you."

The brunette returned with a half-smile, and then they fell into a much more comfortable silence.

After swallowing her last gulp of soup, the blonde stood from her chair and bowed slightly, "thank you for a lovely meal."

Regina nodded again and as Emma turned away, her eyes widened when she realised she had forgotten something.

In her panic she summoned some roses, "for you," she said rather pathetically.

Emma turned back around and looked at the black roses, Regina instantly cringed when she realised what colour they were.

However, instead of a questioning look, she received a genuine smile.

The blonde took them and inspected them for a moment before leaning down and kissing Regina on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said again and quickly walked out of the room thinking that Hades might not be too pleased about the sudden blurring of boundaries.

Regina blinked a few times and then fell back in her seat with a grin on her face.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, sorry for the lack of SQ but I had a lot to set up, I would love to hear what you thought XD**

I


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

Dawn yawned as she made her way through the courtyard.

She knew that she should probably tell her boyfriend where she goes on her little trips, but she somehow couldn't shake the feeling that the teen would either think she was insane or would be completely terrified by the fact that he had been unknowingly dating a demi-god.

But, she couldn't find it in herself to care, at least not yet. She was just having fun during her time in the Enchanted Forest, especially after years of living in the Underworld, it was partly for this reason that she felt she had some kind of connection with Emma.

Though she would never complain to her mother about her childhood, she had at times felt like the dominion of Hades was her prison. Of course, unlike Emma's parents, Regina had allowed her to visit the Enchanted Forest when she was fourteen and she had been allowed to continue her adventure. She was sure the fact that she was living with her boyfriend must have been hard for Regina, especially since despite popular belief, she was the only child that the goddess ever had.

She hated things that the mortals believed to be true about her mother, and she saw Emma as an opportunity for Regina herself to stop believing some of the legends.

Dawn was suddenly brought out of her thoughts by the sound of someone making little grunting noises and she tried not to laugh at the ridiculous sight before her.

The young princess held a wooden sword and was swinging it around haphazardly, almost as if the air around her deserved to be slain.

The brunette teen raised her eyebrow and turned to see Graham leaning against a pillar with his nose buried in a book.

"What is she doing?" Dawn asked, and laughed openly when the man jumped, nearly dropping the book.

He swallowed hard and looked at Dawn, finally relaxing slightly when he realised that there was no true danger, "she said she wanted to learn how to fight."

The girl tilted her head and turned to inspect the woman who was clearly too absorbed to notice the new arrival, "she thinks that is fighting?"

Graham shrugged and snapped his book shut, "I gave her a sword and left her to it, do you have any idea the last time that I have had the opportunity to read?"

"You have the rest of eternity to read, you cannot seriously allow this sad sight to continue," Dawn laughed, and walked forward accompanied by Graham's exasperated groan as he followed her.

"What you up to, blondie?" Dawn called.

Emma finally realised that it was no longer just her and Graham in the courtyard and she quickly dropped her arm, with her cheeks rapidly turning pink. Sword fighting had always been something that her father had refused to teach her, she had a sneaking suspicion that it was because he saw his little girl as too precious for such an endeavour. Though, she was sure that he would never have said such a thing aloud.

"I…" she trailed off and looked down at the wooden weapon that she was making absolutely no progress with, and sighed, "I was trying to learn how to use this."

"It's not really something that is easily self-taught," Dawn replied.

The blonde deflated slightly and nodded, "I know that now."

"Why would you possibly need to ever know how to use a sword?" Graham asked, it should have been something that he asked earlier, but he was too caught up in Emma's offer to finally have a day in the palace, to even think about asking.

Emma looked down at the ground, it made complete sense in her mind, but she had a feeling that if she said it out loud, she would realise just how stupid it was.

"I wanted to…" Dawn looked at her expectantly, and the blonde took a deep breath and explained, "I want to take part in the tournament and I know that Regina probably won't let me-"

Dawn held up her hand and Emma clamped her mouth shut, it wasn't that she was afraid of Dawn, but the contemplative expression she was wearing was certainly reminiscent of her mother, it was enough to make her think of the woman and limit her mental facilities.

"I think that is an excellent idea," she returned.

Emma's mouth fell open and Graham made a small yelping sound of disapproval, which the brunette ignored. "But you'll die if you go in and start flailing around that wooden sword, princess."

The blonde nodded slowly with a small frown, "what are you suggesting?"

"You need someone to train you, there is a tournament every month, so you have twenty-nine days to prepare," she said casually.

"You cannot be serious," Graham almost shouted.

"Excuse us," Dawn said in a deceptively sweet voice and then pulled the servant out of earshot, "what?"

"Your mother asked me to protect her new wife from the perils of the Underworld, do you honestly believe that she would be pleased to discover that Emma has enlisted herself in a tournament where she will be the only contestant who can truly die?" he replied almost in one word, the brunette girl noticed that he was one step away from hyperventilating.

"She also said that Emma is free to do whatever she wishes," Dawn hissed.

Graham just crossed his arms and shook his head, though she noticed a slight twitch in his jaw.

With a heavy sigh, she said, "fine, then I'll get permission from dear mommy."

* * *

"Absolutely not!" Regina's shout echoed throughout her throne room.

Dawn rolled her eyes at Graham's sigh of relief from behind her and walked towards her mother.

"She looked really excited about it," she tried, and instantly saw that the information was breaking through to the older brunette.

"There is a fine line between excited and idiotic Dawn," Regina sighed.

"This woman has grown up in a land of fantasy and the only thing that she could entertain herself with was flowers and books, you said that she could do whatever she wanted."

Regina closed her eyes in frustration, and said, "that is precisely why she is not ready to take on something so dangerous."

"If I don't believe that she is ready before the tournament, then I'll tell her not to compete," Dawn reasoned, "she'll be fine."

"And what if…" Regina trailed off and looked down at her daughter's clothed stomach where she knew the deep scar to be.

Dawn followed her gaze and brought her hand to the former wound, instantly she felt a flash of phantom pain, but she pushed past it.

"I'm fine, mother, would you prefer that I remained mortal?" Dawn shot back.

"Is that why you're doing this?" Regina asked through gritted teeth, only to receive an expectant look, "you want her to compete on the off chance that she will get to the final round and be granted immortality?"

"It worked for me," Dawn smirked rather cockily.

"Because you are lucky that I healed you in time for you to enjoy your immortality."

Dawn rolled her eyes and sighed, "she just wants to take part in the first round, that doesn't mean that she'll want to go all the way to the final stage, let her have the adventure that you promised her."

Regina bit her lip and considered her options, somehow saying 'no' felt almost as wrong as saying 'yes'.

With a heavy sigh she said, "fine, but Graham has to oversee your training sessions so she isn't hurt."

Dawn lifted her arms in triumph and ignored the defeated groan from behind her.

* * *

-The next morning-

Emma woke with a slight smile on her face, she had once again dreamed of all that she had explored. Being in a new realm with freedom certainly gave her much more material for her dreams.

With a little stretch, she sat up and put her feet onto the surprisingly warm marble floor.

She was about to grab the book from her bedside table, when something caught her eye on her dresser.

With a furrowed brow, she walked over to the object wrapped in brown paper with three pieces of string holding it in place.

Reaching down, she looked at the tag:

'I did say do whatever you want- Regina'.

With a furrowed brow, she ripped the paper away and her mouth fell open at the magnificent sight before her.

It was a blade much like her fathers, but it was made of a darker metal.

Running her hand across it, she noticed another note had been placed inside, 'meet me in the courtyard, princess, you have a lot to learn- Dawn'.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, reviews would be much appreaciated XD**

 **Thanks to my beta QueenApples for her help, and to PerditusFic for being a mythology expert XD**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N Let me know what you think of the longer chapter** **:) PerditusFic (my lovely Greek Mythology beta) lectured me so this may be about the length that all of my chapters will be from now on.**

Chapter nine

 _Regina sighed as she looked around her quarters for the last time._

 _She knew that her sister was a terrible person, but she had never imagined that she would be capable of banishing her to the Underworld for an eternity. Even so, with Ruby agreeing to go with her and accept her hand in marriage, she saw a light at the end of the tunnel that was going to literally be living hell._

 _With another sigh, she turned to meet her fiancé and finally make the trip to her newly assigned dominion, but when she turned around, she was met with a rather shocking sight._

 _Three robed, hag-like women stood in front of the entrance, the most prevalent thing about them was that they obviously shared one eyes. Regina knew instantly who they were, not that she felt much like believing in fate in that moment._

 _"What have I done to deserve a visit from the esteemed Fates?" she asked sardonically, not even bothering to try and get past them._

 _"We are here to help you, Hades," the tallest, also the one currently holding the optical organ, of the three hissed._

 _Regina rolled her eyes, she wasn't yet quite used to the title that had been thrust upon her and it certainly didn't sit well with her to have one of the three Fates be the first to say it._

 _"I'm afraid that you are too late," she growled._

 _The same one ignored her and continued talking, "we have been shown a vision of your future, and we wish to spare you pain."_

 _Regina felt herself slightly taken aback by her words, it was pretty difficult for even the most indifferent of people to remain unaffected by the words of the three who decided the fates of gods and mortals alike._

 _"And why would you wish to warn me?" the brunette returned with narrowed eyes._

 _This time, the shortest spoke, her voice far more snake like than her sisters, "because it is not only you who this misery will extend to. Should you marry your first love, you will each be miserable for eternity. But bide your time and you shall find yourself another Persephone."_

 _Regina blinked a few times, she couldn't imagine herself with anyone but Ruby, but she did have her doubts about the woman's ability to be happy in the Underworld._

 _"But…she agreed to come with me, she wishes to be with me."_

 _"She does now, but the goddess of nature will soon become despondent in the barren land of Hades, she cannot truly be happy in a land without sun."_

 _The brunette desperately tried to think of a way to dispute the information, but they were only confirming her own fears. The thought of Ruby being miserable was truly worse than that of being alone for the rest of her never ending immortal life._

 _With a ragged breath, she asked, "I will find another Persephone?"_

 _"One who thrives in your dominion, who will never grow tired of the land you will rule. Be patient, Hades, and all will have their happy endings."_

"Mother, it's time to wake up," Dawn's voice came loudly through the door to her chambers.

Regina shot up and almost sighed in relief when she realised that it was a dream, but it was still a dream born from memories that she would rather stay safely repressed in her subconscious.

"What is it Dawn?" she finally shouted back once she believed she had her bearings back.

"It's time for breakfast," was her reply, "you should hurry, Emma has been kept waiting for ten minutes."

* * *

Dawn looked between the two who she had called to breakfast and offered each of them an awkward grin.

Regina kept her eyes on the food that she was dissecting and her blonde wife across the table seemed to be vibrating with excitement. She obviously would be rather starting her training instead of eating, but the occasional glance that she shot at Regina told Dawn that there was something interesting in the room for the blonde.

Dawn cleared her throat after a moment and looked at her mother expectantly.

Regina's head shot up from her plate and for a few seconds she made eye contact with her daughter, Emma furrowed her brow and watched the interaction, they were clearly having some kind of silent conversation but she had no idea what it could be about.

Regina slightly shook her head and Dawn rolled her eyes rather dramatically, she then turned to Emma to see if she could start a conversation, "have you ever been trained in swordplay?"

The princess swallowed some scrambled eggs rather comically and shook her head, "I don't think that my parents thought that I would ever need to know about such a thing."

The younger of the brunettes tilted her head and thought this through, honestly the more she learnt about Emma's childhood, the more sympathy she felt for the young woman.

"I suppose I will have a lot of work ahead of me if you are to compete in next month's tournament, perhaps I should go and set up while you finish your meal."

Before either woman could argue, the teen was already out of her seat and slightly bowed to her step-mother.

As she made her way out of the dining room, she covertly leant into her mother and whispered, "time for your second date."

Regina's eyes widened and she choked on the water that she had been attempting to drink, the sputtering sound was soon accompanied by the echo of Dawn's laugh as she finally found her way out of the area.

The brunette cleared her throat and placed the glass back down, eventually she looked up to see a smirk on the blonde's face.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "you are a child."

That only caused Emma's smile to grow broader and she replied, "oh, is a goddess incapable of seeing humour?"

Regina took a moment to inspect the gleeful look on the other woman's face and she instantly decided that she wouldn't react in the same way that she would if she was any other person.

"I suppose the centuries may have robbed me of some of my more…good natured qualities," she returned,

The princess shook her head and brought her own drink up to her lips, making a point of allowing the water to go down smoothly, she placed it back down and replied, "I don't believe that."

Regina tilted her head and finally allowed a smile to start tugging at the corner of her lips and said, "there are many who wouldn't agree with you."

"Well, they don't know…you," she replied with her cheeks rapidly turning red, she was only now realising that this was the first time that they'd had a real unstilted conversation, and she had to admit that it was rather pleasant.

"So who do they know?"

Emma bit her lip and considered whether this would insult the goddess, but then again, she was sure that she was probably aware of the image she projected to the mortal world.

"In the stories, you're a little…scary," she explained.

Regina raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow and said, "and I'm not in person?"

Emma shook her head and said, "not in the same way, you…you're just not as…" words failed the blonde and Regina couldn't help the full smile that overtook her face at her indecision, even though she had yet to come up with a word, she was sure that it was positive.

"Thank you dear," she said to stop the younger woman's word vomit.

Emma relaxed and nodded, looking back down to her meal.

They fell back into a silence, but it was far less oppressive than it could have been, as they each tried to finish their meals.

Finally, Emma bit her lip and decided that now was the time to ask something that had been bothering her for a while, "can I ask you something?"

Regina blinked a few times, she was sure that this had to be the longest conversation that they'd ever had, and she was more than happy to encourage the blonde to continue it.

"Of course you can."

Emma took another moment to think about this, it had been at the back of her mind since she had finally realised that Hades was actually her wife, it seemed as though she had spent the first couple weeks in some kind of blissful bubble of ignorance.

"What will happen in summer?" she finally settled upon.

Regina furrowed her brow and replied, "I'm afraid that I don't quite understand the question dear."

The blonde swallowed hard and decided to try a more direct approach, "what will happen to me when your real wife returns?"

Regina just shook her head and said, "you're making less and less sense."

The blonde quickly noticed the way that Regina was violently gripping edge of the table and wondered whether she had struck a chord, but she decided that this was rather important information.

"When Persephone returns," she clarified.

Regina closed her eyes in frustration, she would never understand why the mortals felt the need to make their own version of her life.

"I only have one wife," she replied.

"But…" Emma trailed off, somehow she just knew that the other woman was telling the truth, but she had been sure that polygamy was not above the immortal goddess.

"Persephone and I never wed," Regina said through gritted teeth, she knew it was important for her new wife to know this, but it was still rather difficult to talk about.

Emma nodded and looked down at her now empty plate, she was about to say 'sorry' for bringing up the subject, but they were interrupted by the appearance of someone in one of the mirrors hung from the wall.

The blonde jumped at his sudden materialisation in the glass, but Regina took the opportunity to promptly change the subject, "what is it Sidney?"

The man looked between the pair, he had the distinct feeling that he had interrupted something, but by the look in his master's eyes, she was more grateful than angry.

"Hecate is in the throne room," he replied after a moment.

Regina just about managed to hold back a sigh of relief and stood from her seat, "tell her I will be there in a moment."

With his orders, Sidney disappeared and Regina looked over at Emma who seemed to be getting over her shock.

"I believe you have a training session to attend…Emma," she said.

The blonde simply nodded and stood, as she walked away she was desperately trying to not think about just how captivating Regina sounded when she said her name.

* * *

"You need to centre yourself more, blondie," Dawn instructed as she watched her step-mother one inch away from falling over.

Emma shifted slightly and looked to the teen for approval and she received a curt nod.

"Why give me a real sword if I am not allowed to use it?" Emma grumbled while holding up the same wooden one that she had been using the day before.

"Because, princess, I don't want to be responsible for you stabbing yourself. Once I think that you're ready, you get to use the real sword," the young brunette answered as she walked around her step-mother, closely inspecting her form.

Emma subconsciously straightened her posture under the watchful eye of her tutor, but Dawn still noticed a slight tremble in her leg, "not the most co-ordinated of people are we?"

"I haven't have much chance or reason to improve my physicality," Emma shot back as she felt a distinctive cramp being to bloom in her right leg.

The demi-god raised eyebrow and replied, "give me twenty push ups then."

"You have got to be joking," the blonde blanched as she brought her legs back together.

"If you want the other contestants to believe that you lived through three lives as a hero then you have to be stronger than your typical princess," Dawn retorted and pointed at the ground.

Emma took a deep breath and fell to her hands and knees, beginning to dutifully push herself off the ground, though it looked rather pathetic with her underused muscles.

Dawn watched critically, though she had to admit that the blonde was certainly determined,

Once Emma was on the fifth push-up, the brunette said over her shoulder, "stop biting your nail Graham."

Without turning around, she heard the tell-tale sounds of the man jumping and beginning to stammer.

"I can feel your nervous energy, calm down it's just some push-ups," she said finally turning around to face the brunette man.

Emma looked up with a smirk at the conversation, but Dawn shot her a look that told her to focus and she continued her set of push-ups.

"It's not the push-ups," Graham replied, "it's what comes after."

Dawn rolled her eyes and said, "I'm sure the princess is capable of not getting herself killed in training."

Graham bit his lip as if he had only just realised that this was a possibility and the young brunette just rolled her eyes again.

"If anything happens to her…" he trailed off, he honestly had no idea just how far Emma was aware of Regina's feelings for her and he certainly didn't want to be the person to reveal them to her. So instead he gave Dawn a look to implicate what he meant, but he still received a questioning look from the blonde.

"If anything happens to her than you will be free of the exploration that you so hate," the teen smirked, hoping that the insult would deflect Emma from reaching the obvious conclusion behind the servant's words.

Graham narrowed his eyes at Dawn, but it was clear that there was no true threat behind his look.

"I'm done," Emma announced when it became clear that her tutor was no longer paying any attention to her.

Dawn turned around in surprise to see the blonde standing not far away from her, she blinked a few times before she pointed at the wooden sword that had been placed on the ground.

"Do five minutes of the starting stance and then twenty push ups."

She expected some form of complaint, but Emma quickly picked up the wooden blade and resumed the position that her step-daughter had been trying to teach her.

It wasn't perfect, but it was certainly improvement over her first attempt.

"You're a natural," Dawn thought aloud.

The words caused a smile to spread across the blonde's face, but Dawn seemed to realise what she had said and added, "don't get a big head, blondie, you still have a lot to learn."

* * *

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Regina's voice echoed throughout the throne room as she swooped her way over to her throne.

A blonde woman turned around with crossed arms and rolled her eyes, "I feel as if I have been waiting an eternity."

Regina raised her eyebrows and allowed her eyes to look over her only friend, "stop being so dramatic, Mal," she smirked.

"You know there are not many who would be late to talk to Hecate," she scowled.

"There are also not many who simply know you as Maleficent, I am not afraid of you," she laughed.

Maleficent narrowed her eyes for a moment before she simply rolled them again, "whatever," she grumbled, "complaining is not why I am here. I wish to learn more about this new wife who I know so little about."

Regina resisted the urge to growl in frustration, she couldn't understand why everyone was so interested in the blonde princess.

"There is not much to know, she is a mortal born to Snow White and Prince Charming."

"I know that is not all, I have already talked with your dear daughter, Regina," Maleficent smirked.

Regina let out a huff and said, "there is a chance that I have developed some…feelings for her."

"Then the Fates prophecy has finally been realised," Hecate clapped her hands rather uncharacteristically.

"I gave up on that a long time ago," Regina sighed, refusing to make eye contact with her friend.

The blonde looked at her disbelievingly for a moment before she replied, "perhaps she doesn't need to be your soulmate, that doesn't mean that she cannot make you happy."

Hades bit her lip, she felt extremely guilty for thinking like this, but it was an undeniable truth, "it would be foolish to be so involved with a mortal. Decades of enjoyment will not make up for an eternity of misery."

"So you're just going to keep her here until the day she dies?" the other goddess asked doubtfully.

Regina leaned back against her chair, she hadn't really thought about this from Emma's point of view, the blonde seemed more than happy in the Underworld, but now that she thought about it, there was every chance that she would soon grow tired of it.

Maleficent took the other woman's reply as indecision and reached into her pocket, pulling out a pouch.

"I understand that you do not wish to be without her, even if you are unwilling to admit just how deep your feelings run. But perhaps some time away from the Underworld will help each of you time to discover your true connection," opening the small bag, she pulled out a seed and handed it to Regina, "these seeds will send her back to the Enchanted Forest and will bring her back within a week."

Regina stood and walked towards her friend, taking the sack, she critically inspected the seed.

She instantly felt her throat constrict at the thought of her wife returning home, with a sigh she said, "thank you."

* * *

-Four hours later-

"Not bad princess," Dawn mused as she watched the blonde hack away at the dummy she had set up in the courtyard.

Emma instantly smiled at the praise, they had been at this for two hours and it was the first bit of positive reinforcement that she received from her brunette teacher.

"But you know that most targets tend to move," she added.

The blonde just about managed to hold back a groan at the implication of Dawn's words and turned to face her, "I know," she replied.

The teen smirked at the childish look on the princess's face, and then drew her own stygian sword.

She began to skilfully thrust the blade towards her step-mother, purposely going slower than she usually would.

Emma seemed to instantly understand what she was doing, she was trying to teach her how to dodge certain attacks, so she began to dutifully do so.

After a couple moments of silence, Emma decided to ask a question that had been weighing on her mind, "why did you have to convince Regina to let me compete?"

Dawn allowed her sword to drop to her side and shot Graham a dirty look, the man instantly cowered and she rolled her eyes.

"She…wasn't fond of the last time a mortal competed in the tournament," she replied evenly.

"Was it you?" the older woman asked astutely. Dawn nodded in confirmation and Emma added, "why did you do it?"

The brunette considered lying, but then she realised that the truth would only humanise her mother to her new wife, which had to be good thing.

With a sigh she went and leaned against a pillar not far away from Graham, "my mother spent many centuries in the Underworld with only this moron for company," she pointed to Graham and ignored his indignant scoff. "So one…night with a mortal and nine months later, I was born and she had a companion. But as a demi-god, I couldn't be there for her for the entirety of her life. Every time I went to the Enchanted Forest, I could see just how worried she was that I would return as a spirit, so I competed in the tournament. I easily got to the last round, and Artemis took notice and offered to allow me to become part of her huntresses, but I refused. She was so insulted that she demanded that I fight the next round against her. She obviously thought that I wouldn't win and offered me immortality in exchange for victory. Graham panicked and went to get mother, she got there just in time to see Artemis shoot me in the stomach, even with my injuries, I won, and here we are now."

Emma blinked a few times and tried to process the information, and she replied, "Regina allowed you to leave the Underworld whenever you wanted?"

Dawn tilted her head, it was obvious why that was what the blonde had gotten from that, but it was still rather sad.

"Not at first, by the age of fourteen she saw how lack of freedom was hurting me and she allowed me to travel to the Enchanted Forest and explore. Eventually I met Devin and I moved there permanently, obviously I still visit my mother whenever I can."

Emma tried not to grimace, even the daughter of Hades had more freedom than she was ever allowed, but she still found it difficult to be even a little bit angry with her parents.

"What's with the frown, blondie?" Dawn asked.

The older woman looked away and considered whether it would be wise to reveal this information, finally she decided that now was as good a time as any, "I miss them," she sighed.

Dawn tilted her and looked at her sympathetically, "your parents?"

Emma nodded and replied, "I know that I shouldn't, I should at least be a little bit angry at them for not allowing me freedom, but they were just trying to protect me. They couldn't have known that Regina didn't actually plan to hurt her, or perhaps as a child her punishment would have been worse since she couldn't exactly marry an infant.

"Of course you should miss them," Dawn said in return, "no matter what, they are still your parents."

Emma smiled weakly and nodded, "I just wish that I could see them again."

Dawn thought about this for a moment and replied with a nod of her own, "lets focus on one thing at a time, princess. Try and swing at me."

The blonde instantly complied, but she lost her balance slightly and swung off to the left.

Graham instantly squealed and jumped out of the way, the sword wedged its way into the pillar and he started panting wildly while staring at the blonde.

"What the hell?!" he shouted.

Dawn and Emma exchanged a look before they each burst out laughing.

Graham crossed his arms and was a moment from pouting as he said, "what is possibly so funny?"

"You're immortal you idiot," Dawn replied through her laugh.

The man's eyes fell on the sword and after a moment his shoulders slumped and his cheeks turned bright red, he quickly cleared his throat and said, "right."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, I apologise for the lack of SQ but I feel like it would have been wrong to force it in, also, for the guest who said that it wasn't right for Regina to look down on Emma for being mortal, mortals just weren't equal to the gods in Greek Mythology. Please try to understand that Regina is a god in this fic. So that's not something that I plan to change for a while, I'm sorry if you don't like it.**

 **Anyway, I would love to hear what you thought XD**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N Hey guys, just letting you know that from the line 'Graham stood shock' to Regina's first line in that section was written by PerditusFic. If you like her style please check out 'The Hatter' especially if you want to read more of Dawn XD**

Chapter ten

 _Regina walked slowly through Olympus, almost as if she was trying to deny the inevitable._

 _She was aware that she could simply ignore the Fates and continue with her plans to marry the woman she loved, but it seemed cruel with the knowledge they had imparted upon her._

 _She certainly did not want to live a life where she was happy at the expense of Ruby, and she had an eternity to get over the brunette. In that moment it hadn't even occurred to her that the Fates had mentioned another Persephone, mostly because she couldn't imagine another existing like her. There was not another on Olympus who she could picture herself loving, and there was the added issue that there were very few who would agree to spend time in the Underworld._

 _"Regina?" someone asked in confusion._

 _Said woman quickly looked up to see that she had nearly walked into the very person that she had been thinking about. Ruby had her hand held out to prevent the collision._

 _"Are you okay?" the taller of the two asked with a furrowed brow._

 _Regina took a deep breath, the genuine care in Ruby's voice was something that she felt she wouldn't be able to get from another._

 _"I…" she began, but she quickly trailed off as Ruby brought her hands up to rest on her shoulders._

 _"You're worrying me," she said._

 _Regina nodded and took a step back, pulling off the ring that she had been offered after their victory against the Titans, she placed it into Persephone's hand._

 _"I cannot marry you."_

 _Ruby blinked a few times and looked around, clearly trying to discern whether this was some kind of horrible joke._

 _Finally, she swallowed hard and said, "why?"_

 _In that moment, Regina almost changed her mind, she couldn't think of a reason why she wouldn't be able to find a way to make her love happy, but the Fates words continued to nag at the back of her mind. If the brunette was going to spend eternity looking as depressed as she did in this moment, then she knew that she couldn't go back._

 _"You cannot truly be happy in the Underworld, in order to fulfil your role as Persephone you have to stay here with your mother. The world needs you to not be obligated to stay in the land of Hades," she explained, just about managing to keep the tears at bay._

 _Ruby swallowed hard, but she could hardly deny the truths that she had been worrying about herself, "perhaps I do not need to live in the Underworld, we could visit each other."_

 _The shorter woman smiled weakly at her optimism and shook her head, "you know that it wouldn't work, my love."_

 _Persephone looked down, but still gave a tiny nod and whispered, "I know."_

 _Silence reigned for a few moments, before Regina leaned up and captured the other woman's lips in a quick but meaningful kiss, she knew that anything more would make her chance her mind._

 _"Goodbye, Persephone," she whispered close to her lips._

 _"Goodbye, Regina."_

"Mother!"

Regina jumped and looked around to see that she had fallen asleep in one of the plush library chairs, after a few blinks, she looked down at the book that she must have been trying to read,

"I take it you wouldn't recommend that one," Dawn laughed.

The older brunette sat up more and threw the book onto the table next to her, "you really must stop waking me, dear," she sighed, even though she was rather grateful to once again be brought out of a miserable memory.

"I have something to tell you."

After rubbing her eyes, she finally noticed that her daughter was rather sweaty looking, her hair was slightly messy, it was obvious that she had come straight from the training session. For Dawn to not have bathed before seeking her out, she figured that it had to be important.

"What is it?" she asked now with her grogginess finally receding.

Dawn took a deep breath and replied, "Emma revealed something to me that I think you should be made aware of."

"Okay…" Regina replied with a hint of caution in her voice.

Dawn bit her lip, she knew this was not something her mother would wish to hear, she would probably take it as a rejection, but she also had no doubt that the piece of information was essential to the woman building a real relationship with her wife.

"She misses her parents," she finally admitted.

Regina sighed heavily and sat up straighter, after a moment of hesitation, she reached into a pocket and handed her daughter one of the seeds that she had spent some time contemplating before deciding to read in order to get her mind off the thought of the blonde she barely knew leaving.

"Hecate gave me a little gift for my new wife," she explained with a sigh.

The younger brunette furrowed her brow and looked closely at the seed, she instantly recognised it from the time that the same woman had gifted them to her for her fourteenth birthday. It allowed her mother to ensure that she returned, something she had stopped doing after she told her she wished to make her move to the other realm much more permanent.

She blinked a few times and replied, "how does Hecate have access to so many of these?"

Regina rolled her eyes and took the seed back, "she's very resourceful, but that is not important in this moment."

Dawn nodded in agreement and moved forward with the pressing matter, "so you can give her the seeds and she can visit her parents."

Regina just shook her head and replied in a rather guilty voice, "I can't."

Her daughter was taken aback for a moment before she said, "of course you can. Give her the seed and she will be forced to come back within a week."

"And what if she resents me for forcing her to come back?" the older brunette asked without looking up at the teenager.

Dawn felt her shoulders slump as she sighed at her mother, she could never quite understand how an all-powerful goddess could be so unsure of herself.

"Of course she would want to return, she loves it here," Dawn tried to assure, but the doubt was still evident on the woman's face.

After a moment, Regina seemed to realise that she had actually said her fears out loud and she quickly tried to change her expression to one of indifference, "it would hardly be a punishment for her parents if I were to allow her to visit them."

The younger brunette gave her an exasperated sigh and said, "this is not about punishing Snow White and Prince Charming anymore, mother, this is about finding the happiness that you have denied yourself for centuries."

Regina clenched her jaw, Dawn didn't know much about her past, all she knew was that her mother was frequently alone. The girl was beyond idealistic at times, being with Devin seemed to have turned her into a hopeless romantic.

"She is mortal Dawn," she said rather weakly, "even if I did love her…"

Dawn looked at her mother sympathetically, having only having had her immortality for a couple of years, she had yet to have to live on while others died. She had of course thought what it would be like once Devin noticed that she wasn't aging, but she had desperately tried not to think about what would happen once he was too old to reasonably still be with her, or worse when he was no longer counted among the living.

"She doesn't have to remain mortal," Dawn insisted.

Regina felt her knuckles go white as she gripped the side of the chair and she replied, "I have known the princess for mere months, surely a commitment of eternity is an unfair expectation."

Dawn was about to reply, before someone cleared their throat at the door of the library.

Two sets of brown eyes shot towards the cowardly man waiting for attention and they each looked at him expectantly which Graham took as permission to enter.

"What is it?" Regina scowled, even if she was thankful for the distraction.

"Emma has made a request that I am afraid I cannot assist her with," he replied in a slightly higher pitch than usual, clearly he was afraid of what Regina would decide.

Regina narrowed her eyes and nodded for him to continue.

"She wishes to visit…Tartarus and I r-refuse to be her guide for such a foolish endeavour."

Dawn smirked at the man, she knew exactly what Regina's thoughts would be, there was no need for him to be so afraid.

"Tartarus is the one place that she may not go to, especially with you," Regina waved dismissively.

Graham furrowed his brow, he wasn't sure why he was going against this, but he said, "but you said that she could go wherever she wished to."

"This restriction was implied, Tartarus is the home to the Titans, she is certainly not ready for such an encounter."

The man nodded quickly and scurried away to deliver the news to Emma.

"Are you sure that you don't care about her?" Dawn asked after a moment of silence.

Regina rolled her eyes and grabbed her book from the table beside her, "go and bathe Dawn, you smell rancid."

* * *

"You should rest," Graham commented when he returned to the courtyard to see Emma still swinging the sword.

The blonde looked over her shoulder and smiled at her 'guide', finally allowing her deeply tired arm to relax, "you're right," she sighed, "I want to be able to keep up with Dawn, though."

"You do know that Dawn isn't the most…relaxed of people."

Emma dug the wooden sword into the ground next to the practice dummy and began following Graham back towards the castle, "what do you mean?"

"She…inherited Regina's temper, but she doesn't have the centuries of controlling it that her mother has," he replied.

The princess considered this for a moment and nodded, "so you're saying that I need to be careful not to insult her."

Graham almost sighed in relief, the blonde seemed to be finally starting to understand the need for self-preservation, "speaking of being careful…you cannot visit Tartarus."

Emma furrowed her brow and smirked, "you thought I was being serious?"

Graham blanched and simply nodded.

"Of course I was joking, but why I am not allowed?"

The brunette gulped and considered lying, but he couldn't think of anything convincing, "Regina said that it's the one place off limits."

For a split second, Graham was sure that he saw a grimace on the woman's face, clearly not being completely free didn't sit well with her, but the expression quickly passed.

"It would certainly be interesting, but it wouldn't be worth the risk considering all of the other places I now have full access to," she said rather maturely.

Graham let out a sigh of relief and finally left the princess at the door to her chambers.

* * *

-Two weeks later-

Dawn watched her step-mother critically as she continued to hack away at the practice dummy. It was rather irritating just how skilled the blonde had become in just two short weeks. She spent years refining her skills, had she entered the tournament after just a month, she knew she wouldn't have made it to the last fight, let alone the final tournament.

"That's enough," she announced, her hand gripped the hilt of the sword resting on her hip, but she quickly thought better of it. Even if Emma was improving at an exceptional rate, two weeks were just not long enough to safely go against her teacher.

"Perhaps it would be more conducive to practice against a moving target," she announced and brought her hand away from her own sword.

The blondie nodded eagerly and said, "who?"

Clearly, she wasn't the only one who automatically assumed that she meant the other person in the courtyard as Graham let out a high pitched squeak.

Dawn rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder, "calm down, I meant me."

Graham relaxed for a moment before his eyes widened and he held his hands up in protest, though his silent protestations went ignored as the teen turned back to look at her student.

"Try and land a hit on me," she instructed.

Emma furrowed her brow and her eyes fell on the wooden sword in her hand, even with the gift from Regina, she hadn't actually been allowed to hold a real sword.

"Come now, princess, you don't want to hurt me do you?" Dawn laughed rather mockingly, "not that you could even if you wielded Riptide."

Emma looked to Graham questioningly and he just made a face that said 'I told you so', the brunette girl seemed more prone to bouts of irrationality than the blonde thought possible.

Instead of asking what brought this on, picked up the sword and began making measured swings towards her step-daughter.

For five straight minutes, Dawn dodged each attack with her hand behind her back and Emma was clearly becoming more and more infuriated at the smirk on her face, "come on, princess, you can do better than that."

In reply, the blonde quickly feigned to the left which Dawn somehow fell for, and then with a grunt she brought the sword across her face.

Graham stood shocked and anxious at the younger brunette's next move. Dawn had been getting progressively harder on her student over the past fourteen days, and now it seemed that she was far more progressed than anyone first thought. The wooden sword wasn't able to do any significant damage to the younger woman, but the skin was still broken.

Honestly with Dawn as a mentor he knew she'd be good enough for the tournament but to be able to strike a successful blow to the teen wasn't exactly what he thought was in the princess's capabilities.

Dawn stared at her step mother for a moment before touching at the bleeding cut on her cheek. Emma looked about as stunned and terrified as Graham and she whispered, "I thought you were immortal…"

"I can't die," Dawn said wiping the blood on her pants as the cut faded. "Doesn't mean it won't at least sting a little."

"I'm sorry-"

"Did I just hear an apology? Princess, you don't ever apologize to your opponent. Your goal is to defeat them not to be nice to them," the teen said grabbing a familiar sword. Unsheathing it, she tossed it to the blonde and the woman caught it with a confused look. "You're learning quicker than I anticipated, you need a strong sword now."

"Okay, then. I'm ready," Emma said composing herself again and taking the stance she was taught her first lesson.

"You better hope so, princess," Dawn murmured unsheathing her own sword that had never come off her hip since they started training. The look Graham had on his face worried the blonde slightly.

"Dawn, you can't. It's one thing that you're a vicious fighter but that sword is the deadliest piece of steel in existence. You're really going to risk killing your mother's wife?"

"Durendal? It's your sword, but I thought…" Emma trailed off in thought. She didn't remember this in any of the books she'd read. The blade was known to be able to wound someone by only getting close enough to the skin.

"Immortality isn't the only thing you gain from winning, blondie," Dawn said dismissively taking a defensive stance against her step mother. The blonde frowned but nodded and commenced their duel.

The brunette had to admit she taught the woman well but she hadn't been warned enough about her aggressiveness it seemed. Their swords clashing echoed through the courtyard. Graham flinched at every lunge Dawn preformed and only relaxed when Emma blocked it. He was torn between just cringing as he watched and running to tell Hades but he couldn't look away long enough to make a decision. The longer they went on the messier Emma's fighting became. She looked nervous.

At a particular strike Emma hesitated and knowing Dawn she'd take advantage even if she was just her student. Graham stepped back in the direction of the castle as he watched Dawn swipe dangerously close to and then disarm the princess. The blonde was in visible pain from edge of the sword and was forcefully pushed back as Dawn caught the sword with her free hand. The brunette teen raised the tip to her throat.

"That's enough," Regina's voice boomed around them. Graham's eyes widened and he turned towards the woman stalking up to her daughter. He immediately cowered away. When Dawn refused to move, Hell shined in Regina's eyes, "Dawn back away from her."

The teen stepped back from the blonde breathing heavily against the pillar. The younger brunette bowed to her mother and drove her sword into the ground causing a low growl from under their feet and tossed the blonde's sword away.

"You have crossed the line, Dawn. I think it time that you spend some time with Devin, wouldn't you agree?"

The teen didn't show any sign of disrespect to her mother started walking towards the castle. Regina moved over to Emma noticing the cut on her cheek and turned to Graham, "What happened?"

"She is your daughter, your majesty. You know she has a temper and she's aggressive," Graham muttered still staying as far from Regina as possible.

"Perhaps her temper means she should take the occasional break from her training duties," Regina shot back as she watched the small trial of blood run down her wife's cheek. Over the past two weeks she had been spending far more time with the blonde, though it was often in a platonic manner, she could no longer deny the fact that the thought of her being hurt was an unpleasant prospect.

"Are you okay, dear?"

Emma nodded quickly after she had pulled her hand away from her face to look at the blood, "I'm fine," she assured, though the slight crack in her voice revealed that she may be beginning to understand just what fear was.

Regina walked over to the other woman and lightly brought her hand up to her cheek. Emma closed her eyes in pleasure as she felt the godly magic healing her wound, she had to admit that it was rather strange that Hades held such pleasant abilities.

"Perhaps you require a more…measured approach while my daughter visits the Enchanted Forest," Regina said after she pulled her hand away.

Emma cleared her throat to try and move past how the loss of contact made her feel and said, "who will train me then?"

"I will," Regina replied confidently, and when she received a doubtful look from her wife she added, "who do you think trained Dawn?"

Emma relaxed slightly, it would be a change to not have the teen as her teacher for a while, she really liked Dawn, but Graham's warnings had proven to be true, what had just happened only cemented it for her.

"Thank you," she finally said.

Regina turned on her heels and said over her shoulder, "you should get some rest, I intend to keep a promise."

Emma tilted her and head quickly grabbed Regina's shoulder to regain her attention.

The brunette turned with a raised eyebrow and the blonde almost forgot what she was going to say, but she just about managed to salvage the words, "what promise?"

Regina smiled weakly, this had been something she had thinking about since her refusal. Even if it didn't seem to bother her wife, it had been weighing on her mind.

"I said you could do anything you wanted, so your first lesson with me will start in the morning in Tartarus."

Emma blanched and watched the other woman walked away, but inside she was brimming with excitement.

 **A/N Reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven

"What the hell was that?!" Regina's voice bellowed throughout the throne room where she knew Dawn would have stormed off to.

The younger brunette turned around with fire in her eyes, though she did look a lot calmer than she had in the courtyard a few minutes ago.

Dawn ran her hand across her face and took a deep breath, "I thought I had it under control…it just made me so angry that she could naturally do the things that I have worked most of my life mastering."

Regina sighed and shook her head, "that doesn't excuse attacking her with _that_ sword."

"Why?" Dawn asked indignantly, "if she is planning to compete in the tournament than perhaps you shouldn't be treating her like a child?"

"She is a child," Regina replied instantly.

"And yet she is still a year older than me," Dawn shouted back, "for her to have the adventure she truly wants, you cannot put any restrictions."

Regina heaved a sigh and admitted, "I offered to take her to Tartarus."

"And what? You're just going to take her to look at the entrance and leave at the first sight of danger. How can she fully understand the decisions she makes unless she understands fear. The princess is undoubtedly brave, but she is bordering on moronic," Dawn replied exasperatedly.

The goddess considered this for a moment, today was probably the first time that the blonde's skin had actually been broken in any real way, she was beginning to wonder whether Emma had actually felt any real pain.

"If she wants to live a normal life, then she needs to learn to be afraid, then she can use those heroic genetics of hers to do something about the fear," Dawn continued when her mother made no attempt to refuse her words.

"You're suggesting that she be put danger?" Regina asked incredulously.

"Why not?"

"Because she's mortal!" the brunette shouted.

Dawn narrowed her eyes and stared at her mother intently, "I was mortal until two years ago and you no qualms training me."

"Because…you was eager to learn…" Regina replied weakly.

"Do you hear how ridiculous you sound, mother?" Dawn laughed, "she is nothing if not committed to this training. Have you not considered that it is unfair to treat her like this just because you're afraid of her death, how does that make you any better than her parents?"

The ruler of the Underworld scowled deeply at the comparison, but finally she allowed the tension to fall away from her shoulders, "you make an excellent point, but what if…"

Dawn looked at the woman expectantly to finish her question, but it seemed as if the all-powerful goddess was having issues putting her worries into words.

"What if she dies?" she finally supplied.

Regina refused to make eye contact and simply nodded in confirmation.

Dawn sighed with a small smile finally coming over her face, "this is your dominion, surely if one wished to be kept safe, travelling with you would be their best bet."

The older brunette tilted her head and asked, "are you suggesting that I fake danger?"

"Just to ease her into it," Dawn assured, "in the moment she doesn't have to know that she is completely safe, it can be part of your lesson."

Regina nodded slowly, she could hardly deny that Emma needed to form a less idealistic view of the world if she was going to survive, especially if she allowed her to return to the Enchanted Forest as she had been thinking about since Hecate's visit.

After a short pause, she replied, "very well, you make a very good point dear."

Dawn smiled weakly and then looked down at her feet, and mumbled, "I'm sorry for my outburst."

"I believe that I am not the person that you should be apologising to," Regina pointed out.

The younger brunette nodded and said, "I'll talk to Emma before I leave…you do know that I really like her, right?"

"Are you giving my marriage your blessing?" Regina asked with a small laugh.

Dawn finally looked up with some humour in her eyes and replied, "I didn't have the chance to meet her while you were engaged, but I suppose she wasn't your fiancé for very long, was she?"

"You're hilarious, dear, I'm sure Derek has been missing you dearly."

Dawn sighed and walked over to her mother, falling into a hug, she mumbled against her shoulder, "his name is Devin."

Regina brought her hand up to rest in her daughter's hair and she replied, "I know."

* * *

 _Regina paced the length of her throne room over three times before she turned to look critically at Graham, "how can the Fates be late?"_

 _The trembling man's eyes widened, he was already basically hiding behind the pillar, almost as if he was hoping that Regina would forget that he was present._

 _He swallowed hard and replied, "they should be here any moment."_

 _Regina narrowed her eyes at Graham and watched as the colour drained from his face._

 _With a sigh, she rolled her eyes and continued her pacing, "you said that two hours ago you incompetent fool."_

 _Graham made no attempts to deny her words and she just decided that it would be best to ignore him, she had bigger things on her mind anyway._

 _It was certainly a painful experience to be invited to the wedding of Persephone and Athena, otherwise known as Ruby and Belle. Nevertheless, she decided to going couldn't be worse than sitting on her throne thinking about how the event was playing out. But as it turned out, it was much, much worse._

 _Ruby was so obviously in love with the woman who could offer her so much more than a living hell, Belle could offer her a home where she could be happy, where she would be able to effectively fulfil her job as the goddess of nature. None of this made it hurt any less._

 _Granted, Ruby hadn't just moved on in a blink of an eye, it had been over a two hundred years, but it still felt like being repeatedly stabbed in the heart for Regina. The Fates had promised her another Persephone, and though it had taken her time to accept the possibility of another, she could certainly do with having some inkling of who it was._

 _None of this was helped by the looks she received from those she used to consider family. It was rare that she should be present at Olympus and she told herself that this was out of personal choice, but she knew the real reason was because she no longer truly belonged among the ranks of her brethren. She now only made the trip when she needed to convene with her family over matters of great importance, and apparently, for heart wrenching marital arrangements._

 _Finally, she heard three pairs of footsteps and she turned around to face the hooded hags that were approaching her, "how can you be privy to the future and yet still be late?" she growled._

 _"This may surprise you, Hades, but you are not our highest priority," the shortest one hissed, this time she was the one holding the eye._

 _Regina closed her eyes in frustration, ignoring the little pathetic noises that Graham was emitting, and walked over to the three Fates, "you lied to me!"_

 _"Our prophecies are true, you lack the patience required to see them through," she hissed back._

 _"How is it that I am forced to leave my True Love for loneliness and after all this time, I am no closer to finding even a spark of affection. There are none on Olympus who holds a candle to Ruby and yet you claim that I will find 'another Persephone'," she sneered, she would have tried to invade their personal space if she didn't find them so repulsive._

 _"Patience is a virtue," the tallest replied._

 _Regina's face contorted into an expression of anger and she was one octave from bellowing, "how is that fair? My sister is allowed to rule Olympus while I am confined to this horrid dominion, pining for a person who probably doesn't even exist!"_

 _"She will exist," the third Fate replied._

 _"When?!" Regina shouted, just about holding back tears of frustration._

 _"In due time you will have a chance to ensure her birth, do so and your new Persephone will exist, remain in this constant state of despondence and will be alone for all of time!"_

 _With that the three of them turned on their heels and began to make their way out of the throne room._

 _Regina desperately tried to think of a question to get further information out of them, but her mind was completely blank as it tried to unsuccessfully work through their words._

 _Eventually, she realised that they were gone and with a deep breath, she went over to her throne and fell heavily upon it._

 _With her head in her hands, she finally recognised that Graham was still in the room, and with one of the few vulnerable expressions she would ever offer him, she said, "leave."_

 _Graham quickly nodded and bowed slightly before scurrying out of the room, it was quite obvious that she had planned to send Graham out of the room while she talked to the fates, she didn't want anyone to have witnessed that. In fact, she was beginning to wish that she hadn't requested time with the Fates at all._

 _She felt as if she knew less than she did two hundred years ago._

* * *

Emma stared at the ceiling considering whether she would ever fall asleep.

Even though it had been four hours since her training session, she still felt pure adrenaline running through her veins. At this point, she was thinking that she would be travelling to Tartarus with no rest, but she couldn't find it in herself to care.

A moment later, a knock at the door came accompanied by, "are you awake, princess?"

Emma took a moment to look at the door, before she swung her legs over the side of the bed and went over to yank it open.

"Couldn't sleep?" the teen asked as soon as the door revealed her step mother with no hint of tiredness upon her facial features.

The blonde smiled and nodded and then opened the door wider to invite the girl into her chambers.

"I thought you would be back in the Enchanted Forest by now," she commented as she followed her into the room.

Dawn took a seat on the edge of the bed and looked up at the blonde who didn't look in the least bit angry at her.

"I owe you an apology for my actions," Dawn finally said, she had actually been thinking about exactly what to say to her, and had finally come to the conclusion that there was only one way that she could truly regain the blonde's trust, even if she wasn't aware of the tradition. Even if this was going to be far more informal that it should have been, she knew she had to do this.

"It's truly fine, it was all part of the training," Emma smiled good-naturedly.

Dawn considered this for a moment, this was certainly a way out of the thing she didn't really want to do, but she decided to just suck it up.

Standing from the bed, she waved her hand, in which a sheathed sword instantly appeared.

The blonde woman's eyes widened when she realised what it was and she took a step back, only for the brunette to hold up her free hand, "calm down, blondie."

In explanation she shortened the gap between them and handed it to her taller woman.

Emma looked at her questioningly, and after a moment of hesitation, she stepped away from the blade she had worked so hard to earn, and then said, "I acted dishonourably in our training session, until my mother decides that I deserve it to be returned to me, the sword is yours."

The blonde's eyes remained widened for a few moments and then she began to run her hand over the intricate design on the hilt, "thank you…"

Dawn nodded and then was about to walk away, until Emma grabbed her shoulder and was about to say something before she changed her mind.

"What is it princess?"

"It's not important…"

"Now is the time to ask favours, I don't plan to lose that blade for long," Dawn replied with a small smirk.

Emma nodded and admitted what she was thinking, "if you are going to the Enchanted Forest, perhaps you could…"

"Ask after your parents?"

The blonde looked down and gave a small nod.

"You shall have a full account in a week," Dawn assured.

* * *

Regina rolled her shoulders as she walked towards her destination.

Beside her, Emma seemed to be vibrating with excitement, she obviously didn't know that Regina had planned a detour. Her latest unpleasant dream only cemented the need to visit a certain someone.

"I trust that you recovered following your arduous training session," Regina said over her shoulder to get the blonde's attention.

Emma's eyes snapped up to meet the brown ones of her companion, she hadn't considered that Regina would actually be the talkative type while on an 'adventure'. Graham only talked when he was shouting 'stop' or detailing everything in the area that could harm her.

The blonde brought her hand up to rest on her cheek where she could feel a phantom sting from Dawn's blade and she just smiled slightly, "it honestly wasn't that bad."

As they continued walking, Regina looked at her wife who was now walking beside her and replied, "Dawn can be…rather temperamental," she began, after a pause she decided that the woman deserved a full explanation. "As a child, Dawn was always astonishingly well mannered, but when she asked me to begin training her, I saw a change in her personality. I considered refusing more lessons, but she had already been confined to the Underworld for so many years. After she competed, everything about her just changed and it seemed the smallest of things would anger her. She promised me that being with Devin was helping with this temper of her, she clearly has been away from him far too long."

Emma tilted her head and thought about this, she had never considered that an immortal would put much thought to love, after all, their parents were more focused on power.

"Devin is a mortal?" the blonde asked after a brief pause.

Regina nodded and raised her eyebrow at the taller woman, "is that important?"

Emma swallowed hard and replied, "what will Dawn do when…"

The brunette nodded in understanding when the princess trailed off, telling her that she didn't need to finish the thought.

"Dawn has been immortal for a mere two years, I suppose she hasn't yet grasped what the inevitability of death means. Of course…time being limited can add to the romance."

"Like with Dawn's father?"

The goddess gave a moment to consider the hint of jealousy in her companions voice, before she shook her head, "romance and lust are very different."

"So Dawn wasn't planned?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow.

"A lonely night with a stable boy was not how I imagined my child being conceived, but it was certainly not an unwelcome surprise," Hades replied after a second of consideration.

Emma nodded and was about to ask another question, only to be interrupted by the other woman.

"May I ask you a question?" Regina asked, even if she was just trying to change the subject, she had a question that had been burning to be asked for a few days now.

The princess allowed her eyebrows to shoot up at the implication that the goddess even had to ask and just nodded instead of giving verbal confirmation.

"Have you ever exhibited…magical abilities?"

Emma tilted her head and thought back to some of the more unexplainable things that had happened in her childhood. Once when she really wanted a flower that was just outside the boundaries she had been set, it had poofed its way across the line and into her hand. She had changed the colour of things, managed to somehow convince the guards that had been posted to watch her closely that they should take a break when she wanted privacy. Even though she now knew that these were likely magical feats, she had never considered it in the past. After all, she had very little frame of reference for what was 'normal' during her solitude in the White palace.

"I suppose," she finally replied, "just parlour tricks…why do you ask?"

Regina managed to resist the urge to bite her lip and said in answer, "I considered the fact that you are the product of True Love. That would make your magic the lightest it is possible to be, while at the same time making it incredibly potent."

The blonde looked down at her hand moving her fingers slightly as she turned them over to look at the other side.

Regina rolled her eyes at the childish action that she somehow found adorable, and continued, "such abilities are not…discouraged in the tournament. Assuming that you are capable of more than mere 'parlour tricks'."

Emma smiled broadly in excitement until she looked up and noticed the River Lethe, she looked up at Regina questioningly and the brunette explained, "we're making a slight detour from Tartarus, but we will be back on the correct path as soon as my…issue has been resolved."

As they made their way up to a cave, Emma noticed some plants growing on a patch.

"Flowers…" Emma breathed and before Regina could tell her to stop, she fell to the ground and touched one of the petals.

She instantly fell asleep and Regina rolled her eyes while walking over to her, "foolish princess," she muttered and waved her hand to bring a blanket over her. She had business to attend and Emma did look as though she was rather lacking sleep, so she decided to just leave her be for a while.

With a final look to ensure her well-being, she walked over to the cave and entered the pitch black area and held up a hand to light a flame ball which lighted up the cave to reveal a snoozing man in the centre.

As soon as the light reached him, he blinked his eyes opened and sat up to look at the brunette through blurry eyes.

"Hades?" he asked groggily.

"Hypnos," she replied and walked further over to him, "I have a request."

The god of sleep blinked a few times and sat up, "okay…" he said with a yawn.

"I have been having vivid dreams that I would prefer to remain in the past," she replied without making eye contact, not that the sleepy man often made eye contact with people.

"I do not make it my business to control the dreams of the divine," he replied after a moment.

Regina furrowed her brow and said, "then why am I suddenly having these dreams?"

"Because something is bringing them to the surface," he said, "if you wish to get rid of them, you must be rid of what is causing them."

Regina blinked a few times, even if she didn't wish to continue having the dreams, she was also almost certain that she didn't wish to get rid of the blonde who she was sure was causing them.

She was about to ask a further question until she noticed that he was already almost asleep.

Rolling her eyes at the man, she extinguished the light and turned to exit the cave.

As soon as she was back outside, she looked at the woman sleeping peacefully and she knew instantly that the painful dreams were worth it as she reached down to wake her up.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, please let me know what you thought XD**

 **I need to thank QueenApples and PerditusFic for all their help.**

 **Also, I probably won't be updating everyday since I have been neglecting my other stories, I may take a week break to finish Back to the Start, but I haven't decided. At the latest the next chapter will be next Tuesday :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

"Do you truly believe me to be capable of magic?" Emma breathed as she continued to follow her wife away from the River Lethe.

Once she had woken up from her sleep, she had felt incredibly rested and more than ready to face whatever was present in Tartarus. That didn't hold back the blush when she had awoken to the goddess of the Underworld leaning over her with concern on her face. Regina had only laughed at the princess's embarrassment and helped her up, offering no explanation of what had happened. Emma knew better than to ask the immortal about her business, plus she had a sneaking suspicion that she would find out soon enough.

They had walked in silence for ten minutes until the blonde had finally voiced her question and the brunette looked over shoulder as if she were shocked by the sound.

"It is your birth right, I don't see why you wouldn't be capable," she shrugged, "why? Does the prospect excite you?"

Emma smiled slightly and blush crept up her neck as she gave a small nod, "it would be exciting…"

Regina stopped walking and turned to face the very happy looking princess, "perhaps a small test would be order before you enter the darkest depths of Hell."

The blonde nodded her agreement and Hades noted the lack of fear on her face.

She was beginning to understand what Dawn meant about not coddling her, there was no way that she would survive a real fight without a grasp of an emotion she'd only had a couple times in her life.

"How would you test it?" the blonde frowned.

Regina inspected her for a moment before she opened her palm and ignited a fireball with practiced ease, "copy," she commanded.

Emma took a moment to inspect her hand, she found it hard to believe that she could possibly be capable of that, even if she was aware that it was one of the more basic spells.

Scrunching her eyes shut, she tried to imagine the flames raising from her hand, peeking one eye open, she noticed that nothing happened.

Her shoulders sagged and she looked up at her wife with disappointment written across her face.

Regina took a moment to analyse just how adorable she looked, before she just shook her head and said, "magic is not a feat many mortals are capable of. It was a foolish notion to expect you to progress so quickly, you will need time to discover what motivates you."

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked with a furrowed brow.

"For some, magic stems from the need to protect another, for others, revenge is what motivates their power. Each individual needs to know what emotion fuels their power so that they can control it."

Emma considered this for a moment, she had no idea what had fuelled her powers whenever she had done the small spells in the past, she hadn't really even known that she had done anything special at the time.

"How do I find out what my motivation is?" she frowned.

Regina shrugged her shoulders and said, "it takes experience that you don't have…"

The blonde nodded and began walking forward.

"What are you are doing?" Regina sighed.

"Going to get experience," the princess laughed, and pointed in the direction of Tartarus, began walking resolutely ahead.

Regina smiled fondly at her back, before she rolled her eyes and began following her to the darkest depths of hell.

* * *

"Are you sure you're ready?" Regina asked with her arm blocking the path.

Emma tilted her head and offered the half grin that she had no idea her wife loved so much, "how else do you suppose I can get life experience?"

"Most people don't typically start their lives in the Underworld," the brunette frowned.

The blonde shrugged and said, "my life hasn't exactly been typical thus far, I see no issue with experiencing adventure in your domain.

Regina sighed deeply and stood aside so that she could see exactly what she was getting herself into.

Behind her, stood a colossal gate, the only barrier between them and the eternal home of the most despicable to ever live.

Emma's eyes widened as she inspected the intricate cravings set in what was certainly platinum, she felt a slight pang in her stomach as incessant whispering invaded her senses. She could just feel the souls of the truly damned, the demons and Titans who were sentenced to live their immortal lives in oblivion.

"Do…do we just walk in?" she asked in a slightly shaky voice.

Regina raised her eyebrow, the blonde seemed just on the edge of understanding the exact emotion she needed and the goddess couldn't stop the guilt pooling in her stomach. She knew that the princess needed to understand fear if she wanted the kind of adventure she had always dreamed of, but she didn't wish to throw her in head first. Although, she had lived in the underworld for over a month without learning the emotion, a feat that many mortals were incapable of.

"Is this not what you wanted, dear?" the brunette asked almost hopefully.

Emma bit her lip and shook her head and after a moment, she clutched the hilt of her newly acquired sword and began walking forward.

Regina managed to silence a heavy sigh and instead rolled her eyes at her wife's back, before she began following her. As they got closer, the goddess waved her hand and the gates began to comply instantly as they creaked open to allow the pair admission to Tartarus.

The princess looked about in wander as they crossed the border and her steps faltered as she felt a wave of darkness roll over her. She instantly knew that there was a reason that living mortals were confined to their plane of existence.

She tried to imagine her mother's reaction to the things in the Underworld that she now considered normal.

Snow White probably wouldn't take well to living in proximity to the infamous Fields of Punishment and she knew that her father would be ever on guard with all of the demons she had managed to evade thus far.

Neither of them would even consider physically visiting the domain of Hades and they definitely wouldn't wish to go even deeper into their daughter-in-law's land.

Regina came up behind the young woman and resisted her compulsion to place her hands on her shoulders, even though all she wanted to do was protect her, she knew that wasn't the point of this exercise.

"You are under no obligation to continue, Emma," she assured instead of the physical contact she wanted.

For the first time, the blonde had the urge to turn back from something. She knew that she could easily go back to Regina's palace and train swordplay on her own, but the thought didn't sit well with her.

She knew that it didn't exactly make her a coward if she didn't go in, since there was no real consequence if she didn't. If someone needed help, she would already be half way down the corridor, but at the moment, it was only her curiosity at stake.

With yet another deep breath, she gripped the sword tighter and began walking forward, telling herself there was no way that she wanted to regret untaken opportunities in the future.

Regina followed behind her and allowed her to look around the entrance for a while, figuring that there wasn't much harm at the upper levels, especially considering who she was accompanied by.

Emma ran her eyes over the dark rock and obsidian pillars that populated the first entrance. Straight ahead, she saw a gate that no doubt led to the true horrors of the Tartarus.

Even with the empty state of the area, she felt a certain foreboding that wasn't helped by her tighter grip on the hilt of her sword.

Her steps flattered and she took to just gawping at the area, no one thing was significant, but she could just feel the aura surrounding her. She could sense the centuries of pain that she hoped to never be able to understand.

The silence became oppressive and she was about to turn and ask Regina what she could possibly have to learn from this, when a loud squawking sent her a couple steps back.

As her back collided with the goddess's front, she just about had time to blush as the brunette's hands curled around her shoulders, before she saw the darkness itself beginning to take shape.

She registered Regina lightly squeezing her shoulders before stepping back.

Looking over her shoulder, she shot her wife a curious look and the brunette explained, "you wish to train, I wish to discover what exactly you are in need of learning."

The princess just nodded and turned back to see what her threat was.

In the next couple moments, there were a couple earth shattering squawks and she finally saw the form that was being taken.

The first thing she noticed was long raggedy leather wings, and then the clawed hands and finally, the wrinkled sunken face.

Through the pitch black, the blonde was unable to discern any precise features, but she still instantly recognised what the creature was.

Furrowed her brow, she considered the fact that there was only one Fury currently there.

Before she could come to any conclusions, however, the creature flew straight towards her and she rolled off to one side and looked over to see the creature retracting its claws.

"What does this prove?" Emma called while taking deep breaths, never taking her eyes off the monster.

"You want experience, if you wish to experience anything else, I would suggest that you draw your sword!"

Running her tongue over her chapped lips, the blonde just about managed to free the blade from its sheathe and pointed it shakily at the beast.

The Fury flew at her again and this time, she swung wildly and felt her legs tense at the sight of the outstretched claws that came an inch next to her face.

It easily avoided her imprecise swings and he winced, expecting pain but none came.

Opening her eyes, she practically leapt back as she finally got a good luck at her attacker that was just kind of floating close to her.

Her face looked like it was moments away from breaking down from age, apart from the glowing red eyes, she could be seen as just an old hag.

Noticing how the Fury was desperately trying to resist the urge to just slash her target.

Realisation crashed down upon Emma and she stepped out of the creature's reach, looking over at Regina, she saw the exasperated expression on her face.

"The Furies are your minions, I was never in any danger, was I?" she breathed.

The brunette ran her hand across her face and shook her head, "that is not exactly the result I had planned."

With a wave of her hand, the creature faded back into darkness and she inspected her wife to double check on her health.

"What was the point of that?!" the blonde shouted, she was well aware that she had no right to yell at the centuries old woman, but she just felt this weird feeling pumping through her veins. She hated the fact that she had been completely paralysed in fear and she was questioning why it was necessary.

Regina raised her eyebrow at the much younger woman who appeared to be visibly shaking and replied, "I assumed that your Charming DNA would have forced you into action. At the very least, I thought that you might show some kind of survival instinct!"

Emma huffed and clenched her fist around the hilt of the sword, she had no idea where this anger was coming from, though she would later realise that it was simply a common reaction to fear as construed as weakness and therefore anger.

"What are you doing?" Regina called with a sigh as the blonde began running down the hallway.

"I'm sick of people protecting me! Why can't anyone understand that I'm not a child?" echoed as the princess continued running.

"Perhaps I would understand if you weren't running away in a very child-like fashion!"

Before the goddess could even think about poofing herself to block her wife's path, she heard the distinctive sound of a gate screeching into place.

Her eyes widened and allowed her magic to take her to the end of the long corridor and clutched the metal blocking herself from the blonde. She focused everything she had on trying to force the metal to move but she could feel something stopping her power. Swallowing hard, she stepped back and inspected the blonde's back.

Emma was already halfway across the floor of the next room, but she stood frozen in her place, her sword clattered to the floor and she seemed to be staring at something just outside of Regina's view.

"Emma!" she called trying again to get the bars to move, but she knew that if she couldn't do it on the first try then her wife was certainly no longer dealing with any creature that she had complete control over.

The princess failed to even hear the woman's pleading cry as she continued to stare into the darkness.

This time, she couldn't see a single feature of her current attacker, but she could feel him invading her senses, willing her to be afraid, forcing pure terror to flood through her system.

Swallowing hard, she moved her hand slightly, causing her to realise that she no longer had the sword in her hand.

She was aware that all she had to do was bend down and take the blade back up, she would have something to protect herself. Try as she might, however, she just couldn't tear her attention away from the whispering blackness.

" _Foolish princess,_ " it hissed, the only thing that she could discern was that whatever creature it was, it was certainly a he, but beyond that she learned nothing from it harsh tones. She had no idea what to expect should it ever leave its shadow and that terrified her more than she could have ever imagined.

" _You were coddled by your parents and now by your wife, do you not think there is a reason? You are a coward who has yet to learn the value of running away. You did not inherit any heroic nature from your father, your dreams of adventure are that of an inexperienced child. To Hades you are nothing but a mortal with limited time, your life is a blink of an eye to the goddess. To your parents you are already dead. Who do you think would truly care if you were to die right now?!"_

Emma felt tears dampen her face and she began to shake more vigorously.

Somehow, her senses would not allow her to notice just how viciously Regina was trying to get to her so she could help. She just couldn't stop herself from agreeing with the creature, she was afraid of being unloved and in that moment all she wanted was for her parents to save her from this horrible place.

Taking heaving breaths, she asked, "who are you?"

 _"_ _Fear itself! But I suppose you mortals know me as Phobos. I don't enjoy when those such as you refuse to appreciate me," he roared._

"P-Phobos," Emma repeated trying to remember whatever she had read about him, but her mind was completely blank.

 _"_ _Just lay down and give up on your pointless adventure, stay here in Tartarus until your soul is granted death and you are allowed to return to your precious Underworld. Stay here and you will be free from ever feeling fear again."_

For a moment, the blonde felt that the demon was right, she could just sit on the floor and wait to die, then she would never have to feel like this again. She could avoid pain and anguish and would soon be just another wandering spirit in the Fields of Asphodel.

But then she finally heard the voice behind her, "Emma! I'm sorry for treating you as a child, but you have a chance to prove yourself. You are stronger than this demon, all you need is light."

Emma's eyes widened and everything she had read suddenly came back to her in a rush of information.

This demon was the personification of fear so long as she could remain in the darkness, with more heaving breaths, she closed her eyes and focused on what she needed.

Opening her palm, a fire ignited and the whole room was lighted by the magic rapidly flowing through her veins.

She finally opened her eyes and her mouth fell open as she saw what she had been so terrified of a moment ago.

Hissing at her in the corner of the room, was a somewhat humanoid creature, even with the light, she couldn't see anything particularly distinctive about the creature, other than how non-threatening he was.

Reaching down, she picked up her sword and walked over to point it at him while keeping the fire alight in her hand.

"Open the gate," she commanded.

A second later, she heard the screeching of the gate lowering and she considered bringing the sword down for what he had subjected her to, but then she realised that he was immortal.

Sheathing her sword, she turned on her heels and all but ran back over to Regina.

Before the brunette could say anything, Emma basically ran into her arms and brought her own around her neck and burying her face in her shoulder.

"Thank you," the blonde mumbled.

Regina stood shocked for a moment, before she brought her arms awkwardly around her back and summoned purple smoke to take them home.

 **A/N Sorry for the wait, it was a mix of having inspiration for other fics and school work...I won't say when the next chapter is just because I don't want to be a liar again haha**

 **I need to thank PerditusFic for being a mythology genius and my beta QueenApples for her usual help.**

 **Reviews are a great motivator ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen

The only sound that filled the hall was the sound of clattering cutlery as the two women silently ate their dinner.

Emma had her head rested atop her hand, the young woman was staring intently at the food she was moving around her plate. The blonde had yet to actually place any of it in her mouth, which wasn't something that escaped her wife's attention.

"Are you not hungry, dear?" the brunette asked from across the table once she found that the silence was becoming too oppressive for her liking.

The princess looked up at the older woman, almost looking shocked at being reminded that she wasn't actually alone, "I'm…just tired," she replied, quickly putting the smallest possible bite of her meal in her mouth.

Hades quirked an eyebrow and watched the woman pretend to be chewing, even though there was no possible way that there was anything left of the bite to chew.

"You're not a very good liar."

Emma's shoulders slumped and she nodded her agreement, "I was just thinking…"

"About what happened in Tartarus?" Regina supplied.

The blonde looked back down at the table and slightly inclined her head, "I thought that I had at least experienced some form of fear in my life, but that was…it wasn't like anything before…"

"There are not many humans who experience that level of terror," the brunette replied, "even the bravest in Elysium would have been reduced to a cowardly child in the face of Phobos. You got away from him."

"I ran away," Emma mumbled.

"What could you have done to an immortal demon if you had stayed?"

The blonde opened her mouth to reply before she realised that she had no retort and she just said, "I could have at least tried to do something."

"Why?" Regina asked, "there is a fine line between brave and moronic, Emma. If you had stayed, you would have just been putting yourself in unnecessary danger. Being a hero is not simply dying in the most dangerous situation, it's also about surviving to fight another day."

The green eyed woman tried to take this in, but then she thought about all of the stories she had heard about her father. She couldn't help the feeling that King David would have done something.

"My father wouldn't have run away."

"No, he wouldn't have," Regina agreed, "because he wouldn't have had the power to get away from Phobos. You felt fear in its purest form and you defeated it. Granted, it wasn't quite the lesson I had planned for you, but it certainly proved that you are capable of more than you first thought."

Silence fell over them again and the brunette just stared at the younger woman, waiting for some kind of response. After a full thirty seconds of thinking this information through, Emma allowed a small grin to begin tugging at the corner of her lips.

Now that she was looking at it rationally, Regina made complete sense.

She could have stayed and stabbed Phobos, which would have done nothing, she wasn't really skilled enough in magic to have done anything else to him. And even if she had managed to hurt him in some way, the demon was trapped in Tartarus, it wasn't particularly like he was travelling the earth causing mortals to feel as hopelessly terrified as she had.

"I suppose you're right," the princess finally replied, "but perhaps I'm not quite ready to compete in the upcoming competition…"

Regina tilted her head, she was sure that Emma was far too excited about it to put if off for even a second, but then she realised something. The young princess had perhaps just made her first mature decision; she hadn't just allowed her childlike wonder to prevent her from thinking through the consequences.

It was for this reason that Hades didn't question her choice and simply nodded, "I think you may be right."

The blonde smiled at this and began to actually start on her meal, gracefully placing more acceptable bites into her mouth.

They each finished their dinner in silence, though it was far more comfortable than it was previously.

As soon as they each swallowed their last bit of food, a servant appeared in the doorway and took away their empty plates, with a little bow to each of the woman.

Once he was out of earshot, Emma asked, "would it be alright if we skip the training session for tomorrow?"

The ruler of the Underworld tilted her head and said, "I suppose…has your experiences made you complacent? If I had known that this talk would inflate your ego…"

The blonde let out a little laugh and shook her head, "I think that a day away from exploring and adventure will do me some good. I have been here for nearly a month and I have barely spent any time in this palace…"

"There isn't much of interest here," Regina replied, bitterness laced in her every word.

"Can you not leave the Underworld?" Emma asked after a moment, now that she thought about, she knew that the woman could, but she had not left since she had arrived here.

"I can travel to any realm…" the brunette said, instantly seeing the spark of curiosity returning to the younger woman's eyes.

"Realms?" Emma almost squeaked, she had read about theories that they were not alone in existence, but she had never really thought that it could be true.

"Wonderland, Neverland, Camelot, earth…" Regina listed, "there are more than it is possible to name…"

A huge smile spread across the blonde's face and the brunette was torn between letting out an exasperated sigh and mirroring the expression that she found so adorable.

"I thought that you wanted to stay in the palace…"

Emma nodded and said, "I do…"

"But?"

"What makes you think there is a 'but'?"

Regina raised an eyebrow at the woman who was clearly trying to hide her excitement.

"I can just spend the day in the library…" she said unconvincingly, clearly trying to fight off her child-like curiosity.

"Which realm would you like to go to first?" the brunette sighed.

"Really?" the princess asked, her voice a mix of trepidation and excitement, "it probably wouldn't be the best idea…"

"You have spent time in Tartarus, no matter how briefly we were there, I can say with a lot of confidence that there isn't anything in any of these realms that could terrify you half as much…well except for earth perhaps…"

"Earth?"

Regina waved her hand in dismissal and replied, "it is a land without magic and as a result they have adopted some strange ways. After the initial excitement of discovering their technology, you might find that there is no more wonder…"

Emma nodded and made a mental note to see if she could find out more about this realm in the future, but there were far more interesting places on Regina's list, ones that she had read about and had dreamed of visiting.

"Wonderland," she finally said to answer the woman's question.

"I suppose you read that book," Regina sighed, she honestly wished that Isaac would stop romanticising every realm. The Author had basically spent his life trying to make others wish to embark on pointless adventures in the hopes of getting the same glory as those they believed to be fictional characters. She was sure that more than half of those who died because of heroics were influenced by him.

"There wasn't much else to do during my childhood, my parents ensured that I had a fully stocked library…"

"You do understand that Wonderland is not quite like what you have read, the Author does tend to tone down certain aspects of what happened to make a better story…"

"Like what?" the blonde asked with a tilted head, making another mental note to find out more about this Author later.

"Many of his stories are aimed at children, you will probably find Wonderland to be a rather more dangerous place than you would have thought possible."

"Is Alice still alive?" the princess asked, seemingly brushing off the older woman's comment.

Regina just shook her head, she supposed that it wasn't possible to achieve full maturity in a matter of four weeks, "she is indeed, I believe that she is in the process of struggling to bring the love of her life back to her…"

"Can't you help her?"

"I could…" Hades said with a frown, she was truly beginning to miss the awkward silence.

"Then why don't you? It's not fair when people have to struggle for love…"

"It's a part of life, do you honestly believe that any story would be made better if a goddess appeared in the middle to solve all of the character's problems?"

"But you said that it's real…so they're not characters…" the blonde said, looking thoroughly confused.

Regina tilted her head and wondered for a moment whether her wife had yet grasped the idea that she was indeed married to a divine figure.

"I don't think you understand just how long I have been alive, dear. All of the gods are perfectly capable of interfering with the happenings of man, but then mortals wouldn't have the chance to make their own stories. Once a human's life comes to an end, it will be the stories told about them which immortalises them, if I was to bring Cyrus back to Alice, then their epic love story would be cut short. They wouldn't have the experience bonding them together for the rest of their lives."

Emma nodded slowly and said, "I think I understand…but then why did you save my father?"

"He spent two previous lifetimes proving himself as a hero, if I hadn't given him another chance, he would have lost his chance at paradise. There is a difference between directly interfering and giving another chance. It is still up to your father what he does with the rest of his life, unfortunately, he chose to deceive a goddess…"

"He was protecting his daughter," Emma replied rather defensively.

Both of Regina's eyebrows shot up, this was the first time that the younger woman had defended either of her parents, it occurred to the goddess that meant the princess was truly missing them at this point.

"How were my parents to know that I would love being in the Underworld?"

"You 'love' the Underworld?" Regina asked, disbelief dripping through her tone, despite all of the evidence to the contrary, she had to admit that it was still rather strange to have found the one mortal who was so willing to stay here.

Emma nodded rather sheepishly, "I have freedom, I have…you…"

The goddess's mouth fell open and for the first time she actually considered that the blonde was really invested in their marriage, she was sure that she only chose to spend time with her because it was part of her adventure.

Regina just smiled and looked down at the table and they once again fell into a somewhat stilted silence.

They remained like this for a full five minutes, during which time, the servant reappeared and placed their desserts in front of each of them and then disappeared.

Finally, Regina decided that they should go back to what they were talking about, "do you wish to go to Wonderland tomorrow?"

The blonde looked up and the brunette couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked with a mouth full of chocolate cake.

"Maybe I should have a day to relax," Emma said after a moment of thought, she could already tell that she wasn't likely to wake up early the next day and she had actually been missing days of nothing but reading, though it was nice to know that it wasn't all she was allowed to do.

Regina nodded her understanding, "you can obviously read anything in the library."

The blonde smiled gratefully and they fell back into silence as they each finished their meal.

* * *

Emma sat cross legged on the floor of the library and grabbed the next book from her pile.

It had certainly been an enjoyable day, which was odd considering how happy she had been during all of her adventure, but reading for hours was certainly something that she needed after what happened in Tartarus.

Fear was not something that she had experienced so intensely before and she just wanted to go somewhere where she would feel safe.

Of course, she felt safe whenever she was around Regina because the woman was a goddess after all, but she could hardly spend the day following her around after declining her invitation to Wonderland.

Now that she though back on her meeting with Phobos, though, she felt strangely good about it. She had re-read a couple of books that day that reminded her that the fictional characters she had idealised as a child were not perfect from the start of the narrative. The character having to learn lessons was often the whole point of the tale and she could certainly see that she had a lot to learn about freedom before she embraced it further. She knew what it was to be afraid and now she had to work on not allowing it to paralyse her, since she was sure that if Regina hadn't been there, she would currently be in the depths of hell waiting for her mortal body to die.

She let out a breath and decided that she could think on this further later, before her eyes widened when she saw the book she must have subconsciously taken off the shelf.

It was Alice in Wonderland, which was one of the first books that she could remember her mother having ever read to her. Over her sheltered life, she had read it many times over and each time, she just found it more magical and endearing. She would often dream about travelling to Wonderland and being as free as Alice, but her dream would always end with her returning to her family as Alice did at the end.

Swallowing hard, she thought about how she probably would never see them again.

Her heart clenched at the thought that the next time she might see her mother would be in the Fields of Asphodel and her father in Elysium. She imagined that she could convince Regina to allow them to be together in paradise, but then, her wife did really seem to hate them for disobeying her and as much as she seemed to care, the fact remained that Emma was just a mortal. Hades was very aware that the princess was incapable of being her wife forever and the blonde considered that even if the next sixty years or so were amazing for the goddess, in a couple hundred years, the brunette may never even think about her again. Plus, there was the fact that the goddess would always look the age that she was now. Overall, there just seemed to be too many issues with their relationship, not least of all that she wasn't completely convinced that Regina was that interested in her. She couldn't really see how she could match up to Persephone.

"Books are often more interesting when you open them."

Emma's eyes snapped up and she felt blush creep up her cheeks as she realised who the brunette leaning against the bookshelf was.

"I was just thinking…" she replied after a moment.

Regina nodded with a small smirk on her face, she could no longer deny how adorable she found this mortal, which was part of the reason why she couldn't resist the urge to go and see what she was up to after a day of not seeing her. She had been more shocked then anyone when the blonde had denied an invitation to Wonderland and it was only enforced when she saw what book she was holding.

"Regretting your choice not to go this morning?" the older woman asked, not even bothering to tell her wife why she was there, for some reason she always felt that it was more difficult to lie to the princess, so she didn't really see the point. Especially since the woman didn't seem at all bothered by her sudden appearance.

"No…I have enjoyed a day of relaxation…I was just thinking that this was one of the first books my mother ever gave me. It seems strange that after twenty-one-years trapped in a castle that the Queen of the Underworld is inviting me to a world that I would have never believed was even real…"

"As much as it angered me that they defied my instruction, I can admit that their actions were justified, "Regina sighed as she fell into a chair that was placed between the shelves.

Emma's eyebrows shot up and she looked at the brunette in complete shock, she never thought that she would hear the woman say a nice thing about her parents.

"Really?"

"I have lived a very long time and I have seen many parents fiercely protect their children, though they often go about it the wrong way. Just as your parents believed, I thought that they were incapable of conceiving. I honestly had no intention of ever taking a defenceless child to the Underworld, but when they took steps to blatantly disregard me…I changed my mind…"

The blonde nodded her understanding, she knew that she should be angrier with her for essentially kidnapping her, but for once in her life, she hadn't felt trapped. She hadn't come to the library because it was the only thing that she was allowed to do, but because she had done so many other activities that she had finally needed time to relax. Even if it admittedly made her strange, she had felt at home the moment she had entered the Underworld, the fact that Regina had only became more friendly and open over her time here just made it all the sweeter. At this point, she couldn't imagine living anywhere else, but she also didn't want to go the rest of her life without seeing the people who had defied a goddess to protect her.

"I don't blame you for any of it…I mean…you're a goddess so I understand that mortals are…insignificant to you. My father should have been grateful that you saved his life and they should have tried to make another deal with you when they found out they were going to have a child."

"You are very calm about everything that has happened," Regina sighed, she had been looking for the signs that her wife wasn't as happy as she claimed to be. She had heard the term 'Stockholm Syndrome' while she was traversing another realm and she had often thought that perhaps the princess was suffering from it since no mortal should be as happy as she was in the Underworld. However, whenever she tried to convince herself of this, she realised that the blonde had been happy from the moment she had gotten here. There was nothing to indicate that she had in anyway subdued her desire to get away from here, in fact, she was sure that at this point she would give the princess whatever she asked for. If she asked to go home and never come back, she would give it to her no matter how much it hurt and that actually frightened the goddess. The brunette could only remember having felt a similar way for Ruby, but there was no way that her 'new Persephone' could be the daughter of the mortals she had spent two decades despising.

"I guess having the chance to live here has put things into perspective…" Emma replied with an attempt at a smile, but it faltered.

"You miss your parents, don't you?"

The blonde's shoulders slumped and she looked at the ground, "I can see that logically by taking your side, I shouldn't wish to have them in my life. But even if they were wrong, that doesn't mean that they didn't have the right intention. You said yourself that many parents are irrational when it comes to their children."

"There is no need to take sides, Emma," Regina sighed, "I am sorry if you have gotten that impression…"

The younger woman looked up at her wife and allowed a small smile to tug at the corner of her lips. She could barely even remember the woman who she had met on her birthday, Regina was completely different from every story that had ever been told about her in the Enchanted Forest and with each day that passed, she only seemed to get softer. Of course, she knew that if Graham were here, she would probably not be talking so softly, it was all a façade that came with the name of Hades and she was so happy that the woman no longer felt the need to maintain it when she was around her.

"I do miss them…I wish I could just see them…"

Regina nodded slowly and considered her next move, though she knew that she couldn't deny the blonde and there was no point in even attempting to at this point.

With a flick of her wrist, a mirror appeared in her hand and she gave it over to the woman sitting on the floor.

Emma looked up at her questioningly and the brunette explained, "it's a looking glass, it will show you anything that you wish to see. Just imagine a place or person and it will show you exactly what they are doing at this very moment."

The younger woman gaped at it for a second before she looked up at the brunette in shock for a moment. After her shock fell away, she quickly jumped to her feet and hugged her, "thank you."

Regina smiled at the contact and allowed her own arms to come up, before she lightly pushed the blonde away and stood from her chair.

"I shall give you privacy. Please do try to remember that should you ever want anything, you have only to ask, Emma."

"I'll keep that in mind…err…"

"You can call me Regina, dear," the brunette laughed, it had never quite occurred to her that the woman had yet to address her in any way till this moment and her indecision was just laughable considering everything that had happened until this point.

Emma's smile widened and she nodded, "thank you…Regina, I shall keep that in mind as well."

The brunette nodded and turned on her heels, knowing that the blonde would probably wish to be left alone for what she was about to see, she also knew what the result would be, so she went to her throne room to make herself easier to find for the younger woman.

Once she was satisfied that she was alone, the princess took a deep breath and closed her eyes in concentration and for a split second, she tried to remember what her parents looked like after so long away from them.

Finally, however, she felt a kind of electricity rush around her hands and she opened her eyes to see her parents standing in their otherwise empty, throne room. She let out a breath and ran her hands over their faces, before she realised that their lips were moving and she focused on listening.

"…months, David. It has been months since she left and we are still no closer to finding a way to bring our daughter back to us. How do you expect me to just clam down?" Snow exclaimed.

"I understand, Snow," the blond replied softly, bringing up a hand to cup her cheek, "I am just as worried as you are, but the fact remains that she is not in the same realm as us. We may need to look into other options…"

"You expect me to make a deal with Rumpelstiltskin? It is deals that got us into this situation in the first place!"

"It may be our only option, whatever he asks will be worth getting our child back from the Underworld! Who knows what is happening to her?! She is being tortured for our mistake and you can't expect me to have another sleepless night thinking about what Hades is doing to her."

Snow sighed and looked at the ground holding back tears, "perhaps you're right…"

Emma quickly dropped the mirror to ground and shook her head as she jumped to her feet.

She had heard about the Dark One from a guard, which had prompted her to do more research when she was about twelve. Now that she had faced Phobos, she realised that what she had read about Rumpelstiltskin may have been her first experience of some kind of fear.

If history was any indicator, it was clear that her parents were incapable of making and keeping deals, it was a miracle that Regina hadn't just decided to actually kill her in revenge. She could hardly imagine that with a title like 'the Dark One' that infamous imp would have a secret soft side as her wife did.

Her eyes darted around the library as she considered what she could do, she could ask Regina to somehow stop them from going to see the Dark One, or perhaps Dawn would be checking on them as she had promised and would be stopping them.

However, she realised that she could stop them.

Her mouth went dry at the thought of being trapped in that castle again, but now she knew that she could just leave, plus, she wasn't convinced that Regina would want her to be gone for too long, if she even did allow her to see her parents. Though, she was very doubtful that the brunette would say no to any request after the conversation they had just had.

Rushing out of the library, she found herself striding straight into the throne room within about thirty seconds, where she found Regina lounging on her throne, clearly waiting for the blonde.

The brunette sat up as soon as she heard the footsteps and she looked at the younger woman to see if what she had expected was about to happen.

"I need to visit my parents," Emma announced without any hesitation.

"I'm assuming that you saw they were about to do something idiotic," the brunette sighed, she had hoped that there was slight chance that the Charmings were actually dealing with the situation in a mature manner.

Hades rose from her throne and made her way over to the other woman, "I suppose I did promise you anything…"

Emma frowned as she registered some hurt on her wife's face, but it quickly turned into a grin when she realised what it meant, "I will be returning, you have another promise to keep…" Regina furrowed her brow and the princess explained, "you promised to take me to Wonderland."

The ruler of the Underworld smiled slightly at this and she didn't even bother to question when it was that this mortal began to have such control over her.

Purple smoke bellowed around her hand and the bag of seeds appeared, she quickly pushed them into Emma's hand.

"One of these will take you back home for a single week…"

The blonde smiled and took one from the sack before she pushed them back towards Regina.

"I only need one at a time," she smiled.

Regina mirrored the smile and she allowed the sack to disappear.

"I suppose I shall see you in a week…"

Emma nodded and they stood awkwardly for a moment, before she quickly leaned forward and stole a quick kiss from her wife.

The brunette blinked a couple of times, but before she could let into what she had wanted to do for a while now, the princess popped the seed into her mouth and imagined the scene that she had just witnessed.

She felt her body disappear and when she opened her eyes, she was standing behind her parents who looked ready to begin walking towards the exit.

"It should be a two-day journey to his castle," Charming said.

Emma took a moment to simply look at the throne room, before she realised that they were close to the door, and she quickly ran forward to stand in front of it.

"You really don't need to go," she said quickly.

Charming and Snows' eyes widened and they exchanged a look, before each of their mouths fell open.

Snow reached up with a shaking hand and placed it on her daughter's cheek to make sure that she was actually there.

She let out a quick breath and said, "Emma?"

The blonde smiled and surged forward to bring both of her parents into a hug.

 **A/N Sorry for not updating in a while, but I have planned to update every Tuesday, but I will have to find out if that is possible haha, I'm planning to start updating on a** **schedule, but the first few weeks will be somewhat of a test to see which would be the best days for what, so bare with me...I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually lol**

 **I need to thank QueenApples for all her usual help and I also need to thank the awesome PerditusFic for all of her Greek Mythology expertise XD**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated :D**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

"She allowed you to visit us?" Snow asked hollowly as she looked across the dinner table to her husband who seemed just as shocked as she was.

Once they had both come to terms with the fact that their daughter wasn't some kind of shared hallucination, they had all but dragged her into the royal dining room so that they could ask her what had happened.

The first thing that they had both done, however, was simply stared at the blonde.

Neither of them were used to the woman wearing any outfit that involved pants, then there was the fact that she was definitely no longer the meek princess whom had been taken away from them. Snow couldn't help but wonder what could possibly have prompted Hades to train her new wife, not once had she considered that should they ever find a way to bring Emma back to them, that she would be physically stronger.

"I told Regina that I was worried about you and she gave me a magical looking glass. When I heard that you were planning to go to Rumpelstiltskin, I knew that I had to tell you that it would be putting yourself in unnecessary danger…"

David and Snow each took a second to take this in, before the brunette's eyes widened as she ran over the statement in her head, "Regina?"

Emma tilted her head and she wondered how her mother could always seem to pick up on the most insignificant thing and blow it way out of proportion, it was certainly not one of the things that she had missed about the woman.

"As she said on my birthday, her name is Regina," the blonde replied slowly.

The brunette took a few breaths and just nodded, never in her life would she have thought that her daughter would be referring to a goddess by her actual name, not least because she seemed to say it so casually and with a hint of adoration for the person that it belonged to.

"It's not important," Charming said quickly, seeing that his wife was about to either continue with that line of questioning or have a mental breakdown.

Emma smiled gratefully at her father and nodded in agreement, "so what is important?"

"…I suppose the thing that we have both been worrying over for the past months has been what Hades has been doing to you…"

"Nothing," the princess replied simply, which caused both of the people in front of her to give her a doubtful look. "For the first weeks, I'm not convinced that she truly noticed I was there, she just allowed me to explore the Underworld."

Snow's throat constricted at the thought of her baby wondering around what was literally Hell. She couldn't bear to think about what could have happened to her, even if the brunette she had been afraid of for over two decades did turn out to have nothing but good intentions, her daughter could have died a horrifying death before she even extended any good will to her.

"Well at least you're back home now," she said more for her own benefit than for Emma's.

The blonde tilted her head at her mother, before she quickly turned it side to side, "I will be taken back in a week…"

"That is enough time to have the Blue Fairy cast another spell," Snow waved her hand dismissively, not bothering to look at the disapproval on her daughter's face.

"So I can be trapped here for another twenty-one years?"

The brunette's mouth fell open slightly, that may have been the first time she had ever heard the gentle blonde hold any bitterness and anger in her voice, what was even more shocking was that she was directing it at her parents.

"There is a difference between being held against your will and for your own safety," the blond man beside her was quick to jump to the defence of their actions, even if he had tried to convince his wife so many years ago that they shouldn't go through with deceiving a goddess.

"But there is difference between being trapped and safe and being free and safe."

"You believe that you're safe in the Underworld?" Snow gaped, "you cannot honestly…"

Emma held up her hand to interrupt her mother for perhaps the first time in her life, "I am happy in the Underworld and the only thing that would make me happier would be being allowed to visit my _former-_ home whenever I please. However, if I believe that you are making plans to try and keep me here, I will not be making the decision to visit you again. I love both of you with all of my heart, but nothing is worth being trapped again after having had experienced freedom."

The two royals sat stunned for a moment, before they looked at each other to ensure that they each hadn't imagined what they had just heard.

"So you will be…going back in a week?" Snow asked hollowly.

Emma just nodded adamantly, she was determined to not leave any room for argument, no matter how convinced her parents were that there was no way she could be happy with Hades, she wouldn't allow their fear to make the piss off the goddess again. Even if the woman she knew seemed gentler than the stories, she was sure that she wouldn't be giving her mother and father any more chances.

"There is nothing stopping me from returning whenever I please," she quickly added just to try and at least appease some of the fear that they must have been experiencing.

Snow and David simply nodded, clearly unable to form any coherent thoughts without having further time to think everything over.

"What did you tell everyone?" Emma asked a moment of thought, it hadn't really occurred to her before since she didn't know many people in the first place, but she was sure that the people of the White Kingdom knew she existed.

"Nothing," David admitted, "only the guards who served you truly know, but they are sworn to secrecy. None of the other kingdoms were aware…"

The blonde tilted her head, but she just nodded her understanding, she could certainly see why her parents wouldn't wish to broadcast the fact that their daughter had been kidnapped by the queen of the Underworld.

The three of them fell into a somewhat awkward silence, during which, Snow and Charming continued to stare at the woman they had each feared they would never see again. In the space of a few months, it appeared that she had changed drastically, and it pained both of them to think that the reason was because she was finally happy.

"Perhaps a ball to celebrate your birthday would be the perfect opportunity to introduce you the other kingdoms to you?" the brunette said somewhat timidly after a moment.

Emma smiled at this, her parents had always been hesitant to bring people into their palace since they didn't like the thought of the princess being told about the outside world. They had no doubt that if she had heard anything about the different kingdoms and how other royal children lived, then she would no longer have been willing to accept the rule about leaving.

"That sounds wonderful," she sighed in relief, Emma had been half dreading that she would have to spend more time trying to convince her parents to not try and find another way to defy her wife.

"You should go and change, sweetheart," Snow announced after a moment, "I'll have a meal prepared for us and we can talk more about your…adventure…"

The blonde nodded eagerly and jumped out of her chair, already wondering whether her old clothes collection had anything that she would wish to wear.

Once she was sure that her daughter was out of earshot, Snow turned to her husband and said, "we need to contact the Blue Fairy immediately…"

"But Emma said…" Charming began to protest, though he was quickly cut off as the brunette interrupted him.

"Hades has clearly done something to her and now she sent her to visit to taunt us."

"Snow," the blond sighed exasperatedly, "is there no chance that Emma could simply be happy? Perhaps it is possible that this was how the Fates designed things…"

"You cannot truly believe that it was destiny for our child to become married to a goddess! And even if it was, there is no way that Emma could truly love Hades. She is still a child and we have a duty to protect her, David."

The king thought this through for a moment, before he bit his lip and nodded his agreement.

What neither of them could see as they began talking about contacting the Blue Fairy, was the fact that a blonde princess stood just outside of the door and had heard every single word they had uttered.

Emma rolled her eyes and reminded herself that her parents were just afraid.

Pushing herself off the wall, she resolved to first find a way to prevent Blue from trapping her here again before she tried to convince them that her feelings for the goddess of the Underworld were very much real.

* * *

Regina let out a growl of frustration and continued to swing the blade blindly at her target.

Graham let out a squeak every time his queen swung and he just about managed to block, but only just about and he continued to stumble backwards as she swung.

"Your majesty…" he tried, though his protests went unheard as she continued to use him as an immortal practice dummy.

He let out a little squeak as he felt his foot collide with something and he knew what would happen next as he lost his balance and stumbled back into one of the pillars.

Regina didn't seem to notice as Graham dropped his sword and brought his hands up to cover his face. Hades was about to take another swing, before she felt someone grab her arm and she blinked out of her frustrated haze.

"This is rather cruel, mother," Dawn announced, pointing to the brunette's cowering servant.

Regina's eyes looked the man up and down, before she let out a sigh and made the sword disappear with a wave of her hand, "he is immortal," she replied flatly.

"Which means that you have the ability to scar him for eternity, he is already barely able to function as it is," the younger brunette argued and watched as her mother's shoulders seemed to slump, as if she was conceding to her point.

"Very well, you may leave."

Graham took a few deep breaths and took a moment to hold his hand over his heart that was beating faster than he thought possible. As his mistress's words finally registered, he exhaled deeply in relief and stumbled past them to the door.

Dawn tried, and failed, to hold back a smirk as she heard him whisper, "thank you."

Once he was out of earshot, the older of the two women said, "I thought that you would be spending another five days in the Enchanted Forest…"

"I was going to do just that, but I heard something and I thought I should come and see what happened…" Dawn explained while following the other brunette over to her throne.

Regina stopped herself from letting out a huff as she fell into her chair and propped up her head on one of her hands as she looked at her daughter expectantly, "and pray tell, what could have made you return before I told you to?"

"Hostility will get you nowhere, mother, especially when I am not the person who you wish to be aiming it at."

"And who do you imagine is the person that I should be aiming it at?" the brunette sighed, not quite making eye contact, she should have known that Dawn always seemed to know when there was something wrong, even though she spent most of her time in another realm.

"Emma."

Regina rolled her eyes, but still continued to avert her eyes from the brown ones staring at her, "what possible reason could I have to be hostile to Emma?"

"Not directly to Emma, just the idea of her, because she chose to leave."

"How could you know that?" the ruler of the Underworld asked with raised eyebrows, finally looking at her daughter.

"I saw an invitation celebrating the birthday of Emma White, it wasn't particularly difficult to piece together what must have happened."

"How did you see an invitation?" Regina asked, desperately trying to avoid the topic, "Derek's kingdom is rather far away from the White Kingdom…"

"The kingdom that _Devin_ is the prince of is only a two day's ride to their palace and you know that, which means that you are just avoiding," Dawn sighed, crossing her arms with a small smirk playing across her lips.

"I knew what would happen when I gave her that mirror, it is foolish of me to…to…"

"Miss her?"

Regina clenched her jaw and once again looked away from her daughter, "I suppose that could be part of my frustration…"

"It's normal to miss your wife, mom," the younger brunette replied.

"She is hardly my wife…" the other woman frowned, they had certainly become closer and she hadn't stopped thinking about that kiss, but she hardly imagined that they would have been married by now if she had followed the correct courting procedure.

"You know that she technically is, but perhaps if you are worried about her thinking the same as you, maybe you should do something to show her that you believe your relationship to be as legitimate as she wants it to be…"

"And what would that be?"

"Take her on a date," Dawn shrugged.

Regina looked doubtfully at her daughter before she replied, "you may have spent too much time on earth during your adventures, dear."

"Do you not think that she would enjoy just one visit to that realm? Even if it isn't quite as exciting as the ones that she has read about, you can introduce her to certain customs that she may appreciate. The two of you have been married for just over two months and her parents hate you, it isn't as if you can truly court her…" the brunette chuckled.

"So you are suggesting that the ruler of the Underworld takes the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming to earth for a date?" Regina asked sceptically.

"That is precisely what I am suggesting and we both know that she would love it, so just put aside whatever foolish pride you are clinging to and just do what needs to be done."

"And what if…if her parents find a way to keep her trapped again, or they convince her that being with a woman who took her against her will is not a healthy relationship. I told her that she could have anything that she asked for, if she asked to never have to return here, I know that I wouldn't be able to say no…" the older brunette said with a sigh, it wasn't often that the divine woman allowed herself to be this vulnerable, but when she was, she certainly was comfortable doing so in front of her daughter.

Dawn tilted her head and inspected her mother, she quickly uncrossed her arms and moved closer to the throne so that she could place a hand on the older woman's shoulder.

"If you give her a reason to wish to stay, which I am fairly certain you have already done, then there should be no issue with her parents convincing her to change her mind about you. As for whatever they may have planned to force her to stay, I will be attending the ball with Devin and I will ensure that it is impossible."

Regina let out a little sigh of relief and finally made complete eye contact with her fellow brunette, "thank you."

Dawn smiled back before she furrowed her brow as something occurred to her, "instead of attacking Graham. Why didn't you just check what the princess was doing using the mirror?"

The queen let out a small laugh and replied. "I imagined what your reaction would have been if you ever found out that I did just that for the first three months that you were gone."

The younger of the two instantly grimaced at the thought and nodded, "I can see your point."

Regina smiled slightly and said, "perhaps you could stay for dinner?"

Dawn tilted her head and decided not to bring up the fact that this was the first time Emma wouldn't be dining with them in about five weeks, she could already see that it was hurting her mother.

"Of course, mother," she replied.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed XD**

 **I have been banned from writing until I finish an assignment, so I don't know if there will be a chapter next Tuesday, but I'll try my best haha**

 **Reviews are must appreciated :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N Sorry it's not as long as usual, but I figured that it was better than no update...hope you guys enjoy anyway XD also, don't worry, SQ is endgame haha**

Chapter fifteen

Emma looked around the ballroom and blew out a breath of frustration.

She had always dreamed of being part of ball, especially since every princess in her books were allowed to have huge parties thrown in their honour. So far, however, she found the whole event to be insufferable.

She had spent two hours talking to people who kept commenting that they weren't sure she was real, and then explaining to them the 'reason' that she had taken so long to expose herself to the world. According to the story her parents had told her, she had been sick for many years and the fairies had finally found a cure for her. She was also under strict instruction to not tell a soul about her marital status, which was something that both relieved her and made her stomach twist. There were surely many people who would think her insane if she went around saying that she was the wife of Hades, but at the same time, her parent's insistence over the point made her feel that they were up to something.

"I've never seen a princess so downtrodden at her own party."

Emma's eyes snapped up from pulling at her uncomfortable gown, it had been quite some time since she had worn any kind of dress and she had to admit that she could get out of it fast enough.

She tilted her head at the man standing before her and replied, "I would have never thought such an affair could be quite so incredibly tedious."

The man smirked and nodded, "I couldn't agree more, but alas, it is the burden of the ruling class."

The blonde's eyes travelled over his body, she could admit that he was certainly attractive, but he was nothing compared to her wife. Which was why the butterflies he incited in her stomach quickly went away as an image of Regina formed in her mind.

"It seems to me that you could simply leave if you're not enjoying yourself, I don't have the same luxury."

"I suppose I could leave, but what kind of man would I be if I left the celebration of someone so utterly breath-taking?" he asked with a small bow.

Emma raised her eyebrows and looked at the smirk that was still playing across his lips, "I suppose as long as you have no choice but to stay, you could tell me your name…"

The man smiled at her and bowed deeper as he simultaneously grabbed her hand, "Prince Killian Jones of the North Netherlands."

The blonde just smiled at him, she was sure if this had happened a couple of months ago, she would have melted and become a stuttering mess, but as it were, she found that she had every reason to be confident.

"Princess Emma White of the White Kingdom," she replied rather unnecessarily as he placed his lips lightly against her knuckle and then rose back to his feet, releasing her hand as he did.

"I'm well aware," he chuckled, "it was on the invitation."

Emma chuckled and they fell into a somewhat comfortable silence. This man was the first tolerable person that she had met at this ball and had yet to incessantly ask her for the reason that he had never heard about her before. Of course, he seemed like the kind to be bored of his royal life, so she imagined that he found it difficult to care about many things.

"Perhaps if you are so bored, my birthday present to you would be to help you make an elaborate escape?" Killian suggested after a moment.

The princess just smirked at him and shook her head, "I'm afraid that I cannot simply abandon my own birthday party, I do not wish to appear ungrateful to my parents…"

"A princess who doesn't wish to appear ungrateful?" he chuckled. "I never would have thought that I would see the day, you are truly one of a kind."

"That's very charming of you, Killian," Emma chuckled.

The prince returned her smile and was about to open his mouth to ask for a dance, before he noticed that Emma's attention was stolen by a couple walking towards them.

Killian turned and furrowed his brow at the two brunettes walking over to them.

He slightly inclined his head at both of them, "hello Devin," he said and the sarcasm didn't escape Emma's attention, though she was rather shocked by the other prince's companion. "And you're radiant as ever, Dawn."

"You don't have to be perpetually charming, Killian," Dawn laughed at her boyfriend's older brother.

The older man rolled his eyes and turned back to Emma, "this is my brother Devin Jones and his companion Dawn…"

The blonde swallowed hard and tried to wipe away the surprise from her face, after all, she couldn't think of any viable reason why she would know Dawn when she knew literally no one else but her parents and a handful of guards.

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," she managed to get out without rousing much suspicion, though Killian did shoot her a curious look.

Dawn shot the princess an amused expression and stood away from Devin's side, "can you get us drinks please, Devin?"

The brunette nodded eagerly at his girlfriend and disappeared into the crowd.

Killian looked questioningly at his brother's date, before she said, "perhaps you should help him?"

"I was talking to Emma," he almost growled in frustration, hoping that she would get exactly what he meant by that, "I'm fairly certain that even Devin is capable of collecting refreshments."

"Four drinks require four hands, Killian," Dawn countered, "besides, it's hardly fair that you get to capture the attention of the birthday girl for the whole night."

Killian scowled but dutifully went off to do as he was told.

Once he was out of ear shot, Emma turned to the younger woman and said, "how did you do that?"

"I am the daughter of Hades, princess, I've learnt a thing or two."

"Of course," the blonde chuckled and they stood silently for a second, before Emma launched forward and hugged the brunette.

Dawn held out her arms awkwardly for a moment, before she realised that she had in fact missed the other woman since she had been forced to return to the Enchanted Forest and she brought her arms around her back.

Finally, Emma pulled back and smiled at Dawn sheepishly as she realised that they hadn't really established the kind of relationship that involved physical contact.

"I missed you too, blondie."

The princess smiled broadly at the brunette, she realised that this was an opportunity to ask about someone whom she had been missing in the few days that she had been here, but she was interrupted as she felt a familiar presence behind her.

Emma looked over her shoulder and smiled tentatively at her parents, who were each giving her a questioning look.

"Who is this, sweetheart?" Snow asked and Dawn didn't even try to not smirk at how protective the woman was being.

"Err…" Emma began, looking between her parents and the brunette, her mind completely short-circuited as she considered how she could explain the hug that had no doubt caught their attention. She couldn't very well lie about having met her anywhere but the Underworld, considering that Snow and David had basically been watching her like a pair of hawks since her return.

"Can I not have a conversation with my mother in peace?" Dawn asked, trying to keep her facial expression as neutral as possible.

Snow and David's faces' each went blank with shock as they took in the woman's words and Emma just rolled her eyes and ran her hand across her face.

"Step-mother, Dawn," the blonde sighed.

"Same difference," the other woman shrugged.

"It is a very important distinction."

Snow blinked out of her shock as best she could and turned to inspect Dawn, she had wondered why there was something familiar about the brunette, and it just now occurred to her that she looked like a younger version of Hades.

The younger brunette just smiled at her and crossed her arms, "it's lovely to meet you too, grandmother."

Emma placed her face in her hands and sighed again, she had missed Dawn and her personality had been one of the things that she did miss, but it was more than clear that her parents were not appreciating it.

"Why are you here?" Snow almost growled.

"Is that anyway to talk to an invited guest?"

The older brunette was about spit back a retort about how she would never have invited her, but Emma quickly held up her hand to stop her, she wasn't too confident in her ability to stop her step-daughter from attacking her mother.

"Dawn accompanied prince Devin of the North Netherlands, mother."

Snow huffed and crossed her arms rather childishly and Emma wondered whether she was secretly planning a way to somehow disinvite her.

David looked as though he was about to say something, but they were interrupted by the sound of two bickering men approaching.

"I wasn't aware that assisting your own brother in carrying drinks was such a burden, Killian," Devin sighed.

"I was rather busy before your girlfriend sent me on this insipid errand."

Devin rolled his eyes and was about to reply, but when he looked up, his eyes widened when he realised that it wasn't just Emma and Dawn standing in the place they had left them.

"Your majesties," he quickly said as he bowed his head and nudged Killian to do the same.

The older Jones copied his move, though he could hear him sigh slightly at the formality.

Snow looked between them in shock, she considered simply dismissing them so that she could continue to address the issue she never would have thought she would face, but she decided better of it. The whole point of this event was to introduce Emma to the world, and though she had yet to admit it out loud, it was also to convince her daughter that the Enchanted Forest could be better than the Underworld. That meant that she couldn't do anything that would push the blonde away.

She simply let out a sigh and nudged her husband, signalling that they would be pursuing this later.

The blond man's eyes lingered on Dawn a moment later, clearly marking all of the now eerily obvious similarities between the brunette and her mother, but he quickly inclined his head to the two princes.

"We should leave them in peace," he said as charmingly as possible.

Snow smiled tightly at the men, not even bothering to try and smile at Dawn, before she turned on her heels and all but dragged her husband away to talk about their plans.

"Are your parents always so…" Killian began, but he failed to think of a word that wouldn't offend the princess.

"Insufferable?" Dawn supplied.

Devin and Killian's eyes widened, but they each adopted a confused look when they heard the small laugh from Emma.

"I think she meant to say stRrange?" Emma said after a moment, "and yes, they can be."

Killian furrowed his brow, trying to figure out if she was referring to them being strange or insufferable, but he just shrugged it off, deciding that the first night he had met her wasn't the best time to begin questioning her about the state of her relationship with her parents.

He just smiled at her and reached forward to hand her the flute of champagne as Devin did the same for Dawn.

Emma felt eyes on her back and she covertly looked over her shoulder, resisting the urge to sigh at how obvious her parents were being.

"Excuse me," she said quickly as she grabbed Dawn by the wrist without explanation and dragged her out of the ballroom, before either Killian or Devin could protest.

When they finally reached the courtyard, the younger woman pulled her arm away and inspected her wrist, "did mother teach you a vice-like grip while I was gone?"

The blonde rolled her eyes and batted Dawn's arm down as she looked around the courtyard quickly, she noted a couple of guards, but none of them were even close to being within ear-shot, and after such a long night, she doubted any of them had the energy to even try and eavesdrop.

"I think my parents are up to something," she finally admitted.

"And you couldn't wait? Devin and Killian are going to be asking questions…"

"I'm sure you can come up with something," Emma waved dismissively, "this is far more important."

The brunette sighed, but nodded anyway, "what is it, princess?"

"I heard them talking about calling the Blue Fairy and I think that they have finally gotten into contact with her...she'll be here any day now and there is no way that I want to be trapped here for another twenty-one years!"

Dawn blinked a couple of times, before she brought up her hands to rest on the slightly taller woman's shoulders, "breathe blondie."

Emma just nodded and looked at the brunette expectantly, obviously hoping that she had some kind of plan.

"You can just leave the moment you see that hypocritical bitch and I won't leave here until you go back home…"

The princess blew out a breath of relief, that she wasn't quite aware she had been holding since she had listened in on her parents.

"Thank you," she sighed.

"We should really go back," Dawn urged, "I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants this all over and done with."

 **A.N Reviews would be much appreciated :)**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

"Well that went surprisingly well," Dawn chuckled.

Emma looked up in surprise, she hadn't long sat down in the library and it was very strange for her to have distractions, at least in this realm anyway.

"My parents agreed to allow you to stay?" the blonde asked, the leather bound tome in her hands already forgotten as she snapped it shut. She was sure that she would care more about the interruption if she hadn't already read this book exactly four times.

"Technically, they agreed to allow Killian and Devin to stay, since they're parents sent them to discuss a trade agreement. I'm sure that if they could find a reason as to why I shouldn't be here that wouldn't involve admitting their connection to Hades, then I would already have been sent away," the brunette explained as she fell into the seat opposite her step-mother.

It was the morning after the ball and as most of the other guests were planning their departures, Dawn was determined to stay and make sure that the Charmings didn't do something that they would regret. She sincerely hoped that the pair of them would stop being such morons soon, she was sure that Emma wouldn't appreciate her visits with her parents being supervised.

"So you're staying to the end of the week?" the blonde asked after a moment of silence passed between them.

Dawn tilted her head and tried to detect what emotion the other woman's voice was trying to convey, it seemed like a mix of excitement and worry.

"Is that a problem?"

Emma frowned at the question, before she realised what she meant, "of course not. I'm just worried what will happen at the end of this week if I'm unable to leave…"

"You do know that you could leave right now?"

The princes looked around the library and a smile began to creep across her face.

In the three days that she had been here, she had somehow fallen back into the same patterns that she had lived under for the past twenty-one years. To her, it made perfect sense that she would be completely free in the Underworld, but the White Kingdom was not something she had ever thought she would get the chance to explore.

"I can just leave?" she asked, almost in awe.

"What's stopping you?"

Emma opened her mouth and tried to come up with a reason, but now there was no logical reason. To be honest, she had only recently discovered the reason behind her entrapment, so it occurred to her that she had been making excuses as to why she was not allowed to leave. She had convinced herself that the outside world was dangerous and that her parents were just trying to protect her. Her dreams of adventure had always been just that, dreams. Through her excitement of going to a new place, she had forgotten that she should be afraid. Now she knew what true fear felt like and it was nothing compared to what she had felt as a young girl desperately trying to come up with reasons for her parents' actions.

She jumped up from her chair and said, "nothing!"

Dawn smirked and stood up, albeit, much more slowly, and held up her hands to placate the blonde, "calm down, princess."

"I can go anywhere," she continued, seemingly ignoring the brunette's request.

"Don't you think your parents would have something to say about it though?"

"Who cares?" Emma laughed gleefully.

Dawn sighed fondly and placed her hands on each of the princess's shoulders, "you have got to calm down, I can pretty much guarantee that no one you meet in town will be half as happy as you are right now."

The blonde frowned and asked, "why?"

The younger of the two tilted her head and looked at her questioningly, "how much do you know about the class system?"

"Er…not much, why?"

Dawn bit her lip and wondered whether she should just tell her now, but if the woman planned to spend more time in this realm, then she would have to see some hard truths.

"I think for you to get the best possible experience; we should go in disguise. I know that most people don't really know who you are, but dressing down a bit will probably help…"

Emma looked at the brunette, she considered questioning her, but she could feel that she had something to taught her and if Tartarus taught her anything, it was that she tended to learn best using shock tactics.

"Okay…but can we sneak out of the castle? As much as I know my parents have no reason to keep me here, I have no doubt that they would very much like to try."

The brunette just nodded, she decided that they would have to work on the woman's ability to actively face her parents. After all, if she was going to spend most of her visits avoiding them, it kind of defeated the point of leaving the Underworld in the first place.

With a wave of her hand, she changed both of them into something that would arouse suspicion and then smoke engulfed each of them as she transported them to a nearby village.

* * *

"Stop pacing," David sighed.

Snow stopped abruptly in front of the throne her husband was seated upon and narrowed her eyes at him, "do you honestly expect me to not be anxious?"

"Of course I do, I feel as deeply as you do, but pacing is not going to change things. It's not as if we can change the fact that Dawn is here…"

"We could have sent her away," the brunette replied, refusing to make eye contact since she knew that she was being very childish.

"You know that if we sent away the companion of Prince Devin without a reasonable explanation, a simple trade agreement could eventually turn an all-out war. They seem to be friends…you have always said that you regret not being able to give Emma an experience of friendship…" he tried, though he knew it was pointless, he wasn't really sure why he even attempted to placate Snow anymore.

"That woman is not her friend, David!" Snow almost shrieked, "she is a demi-god and technically our step-granddaughter. When I said that I wished for Emma to make connections with others, that is most certainly not what I meant!"

David took a deep breath and nodded as he steadily rose from the throne, within a second, he was across the room to her and it wasn't long before the queen was brought in a hug.

"The Blue Fairy will be here soon," he whispered and he felt her muscles relax marginally, "she will know exactly what to do."

"And what if that woman is more powerful?" the brunette mumbled against his shoulder.

David just sighed and shook his head as he brought his hand to rest on her back. He thought about telling her that he had never seen their daughter so happy as when she had talked to Dawn. In all of her years, he was sure that she had never smiled so broadly in this castle and if that was the reaction that Regina's daughter could incite, he wondered how she looked around Regina herself.

"It shouldn't matter, the Blue Fairy isn't coming," he said quickly.

Snow's mouth dropped open and she pushed herself out of his embrace, "what?!"

David swallowed hard and inspected the utter rage consuming his wife's face, "she refused to defy a goddess twice, she is lucky to still be alive, Snow, as are we…"

"You think that we're lucky to have had our daughter taken away from us?!" the brunette practically spat.

"If we hadn't been forced to keep her here for so long, she could very well have already been married and have moved far away from here. Just because she hasn't married a prince, does that somehow invalidate her happiness?"

"She is a child, David!" Snow exclaimed, "who knows what Hades could have done to her to make her so…compliant…"

The blond grimaced but quickly shook his head, "then why was she allowed to return? Emma doesn't seem to have a single scratch on her body, the only difference is that she is happy."

"You cannot be serious!"

"Snow, please calm down," David whispered when he noticed a couple of guards taking 'covert' looks from the doorway.

"No, I will not calm down! We must find a way to bring Blue here tonight so this whole ordeal can be over."

David crossed his arms and was about to adamantly refuse to her plan, before one of the guards ran in and bowed nervously.

Snow stared at him for a second, before she growled and asked, "what is it?"

"I went to get the princess for dinner…but she is not in her chambers or the library or the stables…"

"And Prince Devin's companion?" the brunette sighed.

The servant furrowed his brow, but he shook his head and replied, "when I saw Prince Devin, he was alone…"

Snow let out a huff and nodded, "thank you for this information."

The man nodded quickly and scurried out of the room while the brunette turned to her husband.

David bit his lip and sighed deeply, "there is no longer any reason that she isn't allowed to leave."

"She will be gone by the end of the week and she is choosing to spend time with a woman who she can see whenever she pleases," the queen said through gritted teeth.

"Perhaps we should give her a reason to wish to spend time with us."

Snow narrowed her eyes, but the blond held her gaze steadily.

"And how do you suppose that we will be able to do that?"

"By no longer questioning her wish to stay in the Underworld, if she considers that place home, then what right do we have to question her? If she is truly happy and we give her no reason to continue to visit us, then she will simply stop coming back to us."

"I…I'm not sure that I can do that, David," Snow said, looking adamantly at the floor so that her husband couldn't see her waning resolve. The blond hadn't been the only one to see the changes in Emma, which involved her happiness reaching levels that it never had while she lived with them. The thing that scared her the most was that in an attempt to protect her child, she had created the exact environment that had pushed her into the arms of the goddess of the Underworld.

"What do you expect me to do?" she asked in a somewhat defeated tone.

David smile sadly at her, he was just as apprehensive about all of this, but he was sure that he didn't want to lose his daughter again just because he refused to deal with their new reality.

"We need to communicate with our daughter."

Snow just nodded and looked at the ground, "I have a headache, I believe I should retire to bed early. Please tell me when Emma returns."

The blond's shoulders slumped as he watched her go and he ran hand across his face in frustration.

* * *

Emma looked around with her mouth open.

She could tell that they hadn't travelled far at all, considering that the palace was too far away in the distance, but this village still felt like a completely different world.

Each person seemed as though they were dressed in servant attire and they all looked incredibly busy.

"Princess?" Dawn whispered once she noticed that the pair of them were receiving some curious looks. It wasn't as if she could blame them, they were just two strange women that none of them would have ever seen before just randomly standing in the middle of the road, with one of them staring in awe at almost everything.

The blonde understood instantly what the woman meant by that single word and proceeded to follow her down the somewhat crowded cobbled street, towards what she could only assume was a bustling market.

"So what do people do here?" the blonde asked after a moment of walking in silence.

"They mostly work," Dawn shrugged, "they have to make money to live…"

Emma frowned and looked around one more time, before she said, "that doesn't really seem fair…"

"A lot of things are not fair, blondie," the brunette replied, "you were born into royalty, so you never had to worry about funding for anything. But these people need money to pay for the taxes that pay for your lifestyle…it's how the class system works…"

The princess looked over her shoulder at the grandiose palace that she had spent so long in, she couldn't help but wonder if there was a single person in this village who could possibly feel sorry for her plight considering the place she was trapped would probably be like Elysium to them.

"Stop that."

Emma turned back around and looked at Dawn questioningly, "what?"

"Stop with that guilty look, it's just how the world work and there is nothing you can do about it. These people pay their taxes and in return they expect protection from their monarch. Obviously there is the potential for corruption, but your parents don't really seem like the type, do they?"

The blonde looked at the ground and nodded, she could see that this was part of the growing up that she had been told she had to do. She just had to deal with the way the wold work and the people in this village didn't look completely miserable.

She spied a few people laughing and playing around, they were clearly enjoying themselves. She could imagine that a lot of people in this town would wish to have her life, but if they had, then she could also see that they would probably wish for another life as she had for so many years. It seemed that there would always be something a person wanted, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be happy in the lot they had been given in life.

"Contemplating life, princess?" Dawn chuckled as they entered the bustle of the marketplace.

Instantly, Emma's senses were filled with the shouts of the salesmen and women announcing what they were selling and the deals that they had that day. The air was thick with so many aromas that the blonde couldn't even identify what one of them could be, but she was desperate to discover each and every one of the scents were.

Dawn tilted her head at the other woman and laughed audibly at how excited she looked, it appeared as though whatever philosophical thoughts she had been having were now replaced with the many new experiences she was now going through.

"What do you want to do first?"

The blonde looked around, she saw some stalls were stocked with beautifully handmade jewellery, then there were the many stalls showcasing gorgeous articles of clothing and then there were the rest that held so many different types of food, most which she couldn't quite identify.

"I…I don't know…" she said.

The brunette shook her head and just pulled the older woman over to the nearest stool, which was displaying an array of crafted jewellery, from bracelets to rings to necklaces.

Emma stared at them, she could tell that none of them contained any kind of precious stone, as every piece of jewellery she'd ever owned had. But that didn't make them any less beautiful in her eyes. On the table sat more colours than she knew existed, she could tell that each piece had been made with care, love and passion and somehow that just made them better than those that were commissioned by her parents.

"Wow," she breathed, her hand instantly hovering over an intricately carved. For all intents and purposes, it was just a simple band, but the patterns were those of a talented artist.

Dawn watched in fascination and her eyes fell to the blonde's bare ring finger, she tilted her head and remembered what her mother had said about their marriage hardly being real. She made a mental note to bring it up the next time she saw her and then looked over at the woman standing on the other side of the stall. It must have been a relatively slow day as she was clearly more than eager for them to buy something.

"What's Regina's favourite colour?"

The brunette furrowed her brow and for a moment forgot about the ring issue she had just been focusing on, her eyes then move over to the selection of bracelets that the blonde was inspecting.

She smiled when she realised why the woman was answering and replied, "purple."

Emma nodded and plucked up the one that was encrusted with purple stones, they looked like gems, but Dawn very much doubted their authenticity. Despite this, she knew that her mother would appreciate the gift to no end simply because it had come from her wife.

"How much for this?" the blonde asked with a pleasant smile on her face.

The woman behind the stall looked genuinely surprised for a second, presumably because she had seriously doubted that anyone would be buying anything and Dawn was just relieved that the princess at the very least understood that she had to pay for the item instead of simply taking it.

"Two copper coins," the middle-aged woman replied after a moment.

Emma frowned when she realised that she didn't have any money and her brunette companion was about to reach into her own pocket to supply her with it, but she was cut short when the blonde did something else unexpected.

She removed the bracelet on her own wrist, which must have been one of her many birthday presents considering that Dawn was sure that she would have noticed if the woman had been wearing a diamond encrusted bracelet in the Underworld. Dawn silently berated herself for not noticing that the woman had been wearing it, that thing could easily bring into doubt their cover of being peasants.

"Could we trade?" Emma asked, bringing Dawn out of her ministrations.

The woman blinked a couple of times and took the piece into her hands, critically inspecting it. Even if the diamonds were fake, she knew that it would definitely be worth more than she earnt in a day and it was certainly worth more than what the woman was trading for.

"You would rather give this Regina a purple bracelet than one that looks to be made of flawless diamonds?" the woman asked sceptically, she was trying to figure out whether this was some kind of elaborate rouse, but she couldn't think of a single reason why this random blonde woman would make this trade.

Emma shrugged and replied, "I believe that she would prefer a purple bracelet over a diamond one."

The trader just stared back down at what she had been given and made a mental note to go to an appraiser as soon as possible and then looked back up and nodded that signal that she accepted the trade.

The princess smiled at her and bowed her head slightly, "thank you."

The woman just nodded in return, not quite sure what to say as the pair of young women turned on their heels and continued their way through the market.

"Are you insane?" Dawn laughed, halfway between awe at how adorable her attentions were and complete shock that anyone would do that. "That contained a flawless diamond from the North Netherlands, do you have any idea how much that bracelet is worth?!"

Emma shrugged again and laughed at the expression the brunette was wearing, "I'm assuming a lot."

"A lot is an understatement, princess, that woman can buy an estate and hire staff for the rest of her life if she sells that to the right person. You could barely even buy a loaf of bread with the one you traded it for."

"Well…good, she did look awfully depressed. This way I have a gift for Regina and she gets a happy life."

Dawn blew out a breath as they came to a stop at one of the clothing stalls and Emma began to look through the garments, "you don't think that my mother would want a priceless diamond bracelet?"

Emma stopped her perusal of the items and quirked an eyebrow at the other woman, she couldn't help the feeling that this was some kind of test.

"Your mother is a goddess; I hardly think that she has much investment in matters of money. I think that she would much rather a gift that had some kind of meaning to her, it's not as if she needs gold coins in the Underworld, is it?"

"I'm impressed," the brunette smirked, "but please don't go trading all of your priceless jewellery, you'll destroy the economy."

Emma frowned and the demi-goddess chuckled.

"That is a lesson for another day, blondie."

The other woman just shook her head and turned back around before she frowned again and brought her hand to her stomach which had begun growling.

"Never been hungry before?" the brunette asked, noticing the confusion on the other woman's face.

Emma thought back and shook her head, "I suppose I have never been this hungry before…"

Dawn just shook her head and decided not to comment on the life of privilege the woman had led, despite her entrapment in the White Palace.

"Then perhaps you would want to try the food of your people," she suggested, pointing in the direction of a tavern across the way.

The blonde smiled at the very old looking building, she of course knew what a tavern was from her books. It always seemed to be the kind of place where something lecherous happened and she had been interested in the taste of alcohol. Now that she thought about it, she was sure that Regina would have allowed her some if she had simply asked, but with everything else that she had been experiencing, she had completely forgotten about something that was so mundane by comparison. She could have had wine at her birthday ball, but she was much more concerned with seeing Dawn again and had again forgotten about the opportunity.

"Most people are not this excited upon entering a tavern, blondie, curb it or they're going to think you're strange," the brunette sighed with a smirk on her face as she walked ahead.

Emma quickly caught up with her and they entered the building together.

As soon as they passed through the door, the princess got the sudden urge to cough, which she just about managed to resist. The air inside was somehow thicker, less clean. The aroma of the many different beverages they specialised in did not mix well with the scent of what she could only assume was coming from the kitchen area of the establishment. All of these new aromas were overwhelming alone, but they were also laced with something else that she couldn't quite identify until she noticed a few people were holding cigarettes and she stared at them curiously for second before she felt herself being pushed over to a table across the room.

She found herself being sat down in a table that was somewhat away from the rabble and a moment later, Dawn sat opposite her and smirked.

"Are you not impressed with what you're seeing?" she laughed.

Emma took the opportunity to look around the room again quickly and cringed when she noticed a few people, particularly men, looking back at her. She ducked her head and looked cautiously at Dawn, "I may not be as hungry as I first thought…"

"What happened to that fearlessness?"

The blonde smirked and looked back over her shoulder again quickly, "I'm sure they would be too afraid if they knew my relation to Hades."

"That is not something that you should be broadcasting, I'm sure that you can defend yourself without dropping your wife's name."

Emma blew out a breath and looked back at her bare ring finger and for a moment she thought it would be easier if she had some way to tell people that she was married. Though she knew that was not something she would be able to do while she was visiting her parents since she doubted that they would ever be telling the kingdom that their princess was already married.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, before they were interrupted by a tall brunette coming over with a welcoming smile, "what can I get you ladies?"

Dawn looked up at the woman and returned the smile, "why don't you decide for us…"

"Lily," the woman supplied, before she turned on her heels to fill their order.

"How do you know what you just ordered?" the blonde asked in shock, she was very much used to knowing exactly what she was having for a meal.

The brunette smirked and crossed her arms over her chest and said, "this is an experiment, princess. You want to experience what it is like to be peasant and I think this will be far funnier by doi…what are you looking at?"

Emma blinked out of the deep thought that she had just fell into and said, "…she looks familiar…"

"How is that even remotely possible?" the brunette asked with a furrowed brow as she turned to look at the woman behind the bar who had just served them.

Emma just shook her head and considered how it was possible that she could know someone outside of the royalty that she had met at the party. She thought for a moment that she may have been one of the servers at the ball, but that didn't explain why her name was a major part of the reason that she had started thinking she may have known her.

Finally, her eyes widened when it came crashing down upon her, "there is no way…"

"What?" the brunette opposite her asked, thoroughly confused.

Before the blonde could explain, the woman came back over and set down two tankards of something that Emma didn't quite recognise, but she had a theory that it was probably some kind of ale.

"Your soups will be arriving soon," Lily announced and she was about to turn on her heels before she bit her lip and said, "I'm sorry, but you seem really familiar…"

Emma nodded and wondered whether she should tell her the truth. It would blow her cover, but at the same time, she felt somewhat giddy at the prospect of continuing a conversation with the other woman.

"I believe we may have met as children," she tried, hoping that the memory would click with the brunette, while at the same time hoping that she was in fact who she thought she was.

Lily frowned and looked at Dawn for a moment to see if she was also familiar, but then her eyes widened when her eyes turned back to the blonde.

"Princess Emma?"

Dawn's mouth fell open, before she noticed that they were getting strange looks and she quickly cleared her throat to remind her step mother that they were meant to be incognito.

Emma looked around and noticed the glances and instantly cringed.

"We can go and talk in the backroom," Lily offered.

The blonde smiled at her and rose from her seat, intent to follow, but Dawn hopped to her feet and grabbed her arm, quickly making sure that the other brunette was just out of earshot.

"Care to explain, princess?" she whispered.

Emma frowned, she could have sworn that she heard a hint of jealousy in her step-daughter's voice, mixed with something else.

"She's the daughter of one of our former-servants, we used to be friends but my parents fired hers and I never found out why…"

Dawn sighed and let go of her arm, she could understand that she would want to find out what happened to her first friend, but the fact that woman had more than her parents tying her to this realm was more than a little worrying.

The princess continued to follow and the brunette behind her let out a sigh and followed the blonde.

 **A/N Sorry for it being a day late, but it ended up being longer than planned haha**

 **Let me know what you thought XD**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen

Regina tried not to roll her eyes as she made her way to her destination.

It wasn't often that she would seek out Hecate's company, it was usually the other way around, but on that particular day she'd had enough of Graham being her only companion. Which was the reason that it had annoyed her deeply to find that Mal was not in her abode and that she had decided to go and lounge on Olympus.

It wasn't that she hadn't been there since she had taken up the mantel of Hades, she went back regularly for meetings with her fellow Olympians, but that was the only time that she would ever return there. There was just something soul destroying about what used to be her home. Every single one of her kin seemed to be completely content with their existences. It seemed as if everything on Olympus was complete perfection, especially in contrast to her own dominion. It was for that reason that she spent as little amount of time as possible here, but somehow Emma having been gone for so many days made the loneliness she had felt for decades so much more unbearable.

As she swept up the steps to find her friend, she could feel eyes on her as she did every time she came up here. It never ceased to surprise her that the people she had once called family had so quickly turned against her when her sister had decided that she would become Hades. Plus, there were those who were born many centuries after it had happened, so now it felt as if she was some kind of villain every time she came to her former home, even though she had never once done a single evil thing to the other immortals. Despite the 'mythology' that mortals seemed to have taken as fact.

"Regina?" she heard someone ask in awe from behind her and she closed her eyes in frustration when she recognised the voice.

Turning around, she offered the familiar brunette a tight smile and said, "hello Persephone."

Ruby walked over to her with her mouth slightly open, clearly she wasn't ready to have seen her ex, usually she knew when the woman would be showing up, since she usually only returned here for meetings.

The taller brunette swallowed hard and finally realised that she should probably be saying something and landed on, "it has been a long time…"

"Indeed it has," Hades replied awkwardly, very much wishing that she could just walk away from this conversation. That was the tactic she often took when she got fed up of talking to people, especially Graham, but with Ruby it was different. Over the years, the intensity of her feelings had lessened slowly, but it was a very slow process Though she had to admit that when she looked at her today, she didn't feel the same pit in her stomach that she had felt the last time they had seen each other. The only variable this time was the fact that they now both were married to other people.

Ruby nodded and bit the inside of her cheek as she looked over the other woman. She looked somehow happier than she had since before she had been given the mantle of Hades.

"I've heard that you have taken a wife…" she said.

The brunette furrowed her brow, she had forgotten just how fast news seemed to move among immortals, "yes I have."

"And she's a mortal…"

"Yes, Emma is a mortal," she replied, trying to figure out exactly why she had said those words as if they were taboo, "you act as though an immortal has never been with a mortal."

"This is different," she whispered back frantically, "you took a mortal from her home and forced her to marry you…"

"I didn't…" Regina trailed off when she realised that she couldn't really say that she hadn't forced Emma to be her wife, but she often forgot that little fact considering just how happy the blonde usually looked in her presence. "I don't see how that is any of your business."

"I had no idea that the Underworld had changed you quite so much, Gina."

"Don't call me that," she hissed back.

"Regina?" someone asked from behind her and she turned to see the very woman she had been searching for.

Hecate was looking between the two women as she walked over to them and Regina finally realised that the two of them were earning themselves stares as they argued.

The ruler of the Underworld swallowed hard, wishing that she hadn't run into Ruby for the first time in her life. Even though every other time she had gotten to see her had been heart wrenching, she had just been happy to have had the chance to gaze upon her once again. This time, however, she had just found the entire interaction awkward and infuriating. How dare she even have an opinion on her actions? She had lost that right when she had married Belle!

With a quick look over her shoulder at her ex, Regina motioned for her friend to lead the way and Hecate knew instantly that she was requesting privacy.

About five minutes later, they arrived in a somewhat secluded area and after making sure that no one was within ear-shot, she said, "you must truly be missing your bride to have come here…"

"Graham was becoming insufferable."

"Becoming?" the blonde asked sceptically, "when has he ever been…sufferable? I was under the impression that he only actually talks to you when it is absolutely necessary."

"He does…" the brunette replied.

"And that's the problem," the other woman realised, "you have become accustomed to having someone who enjoys your company. Graham is rather afraid of you; he may be completely incapable of enjoying being in your presence."

Regina looked down at the ground and clenched her jaw. She had the urge to deny the woman's words and claim that she was fine, but she knew that it would be completely pointless. Hecate wouldn't believe that she had simply decided to come to Olympus just for the sake of it.

"I will admit that I have gotten rather used to the idea of having someone to dine with me…with Dawn currently in the Enchanted Forest with Emma…"

"You're lonely?"

The brunette nodded slowly, once again deciding that there would be no point in trying to lie to her friend.

Mal tilted her head and watched the plethora of emotions flashing across Hades' face and said, "she will be back soon, it isn't as if she has a choice…"

"Technically, she does," Regina breathed, "if she asked me to go back to her parents forever, then I have no doubt that I would allow her. She asked me to go to Wonderland and I agreed…"

"So your issue is that you love your wife?"

The brunette furrowed her brow as she thought over thee words, but she shook her head, "not yet," she breathed. "My issue is that I…miss her and it somehow makes the boredom that much worse…"

"She will be back to the Underworld in a mere two days and you can discover whether you truly do love her. I hardly believe that there is any doubt as to the way that she feels, so you just need to come to terms with the fact that you have strong feelings for a mortal."

"But what is the point?!" Regina exploded, "even if I do love her, she is going to leave me one day. Either she will choose to be reborn or she will be confined to the Fields of Asphodel, either way, it is pointless for me to fall for her…"

"If she is the woman from the Fates prophecy, then there must be some bigger plan at play that neither of us understand…"

The brunette blew out a breath of frustration and shook her head, "do you honestly believe that mentioning the Fates is going to improve my mood?"

"We both know that there is only one thing that can improve your mood," Mal chuckled, not even flinching at the death glare that her friend shot her way. "Surely you can make it another two days for your princess to return to you, I don't see how getting into an altercation with your ex is helping the situation."

"I would hardly call that an 'altercation'," Regina sighed as she ran her hand across her face.

"It certainly looked like one to your many onlookers…"

The brunette just blew out another breath and shook her head, "I beginning to regret my decision to seek out your company…"

Mal chuckled lightly and replied, "considering that your options are very limited at the moment, I don't believe that you're in any position to complain."

Regina rolled her eyes and made to towards the exit as she said, "I'll complain in two days then."

* * *

 _Emma leaned back in her chair and stared blankly at the book that she had read so many times._

 _The ten-year-old had many books at her disposal, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't find any interest in the more academic among the collection. She blew out a breath and averted her eyes to stare at the ceiling._

 _She was used to the boredom._

 _But at least she usually had some kind of activity to take part in, even if they had become repetitive a long time ago. Unfortunately, on this particular day her tutor's daughter had gone into labour, which meant that she had even more spare time than she usually did._

 _After a few seconds, she tried once again to focus on the words on the page, even if she was pretty sure that she didn't have to actually look at the book to know what was going to happen next. In all of her favourites, the protagonists got to go out into the world and explore. They got to have their adventure and learn something from their experiences. All she got to do was sit around and read about others. The closest she had ever felt to free was when she was allowed to ride horses, but since the incident where she had nearly crossed the border of the palace lands, her parents had been systematically reducing the amount of time she was allowed to spend riding._

 _The blonde sighed again and threw the book lightly onto the table in front of her. Even at the young age of ten, she knew that she wanted freedom from all of this. However, she had never once considered simply leaving, her parents always looked so anxious whenever she left the palace itself, she couldn't imagine what it would do to them if she went to the village that she had spent a lot of time staring at._

 _There was a perfect view of the village at the foot of the castle from her bedroom window and when she wasn't in the library, she often took time to imagine that she was down there amongst them. She imagined what it would be like to just be another peasant, going about their business, completely unaware that there was a princess that they had never so much of heard of._

 _"Will you stop sighing?"_

 _Emma jumped, nearly falling off her chair at the sound of another voice behind her. She was perfectly comfortable with silence and isolation, even if she didn't like it. But she had begun to get used to the idea of having another person her age to interact with._

 _Looking over her shoulder, she let out a breath of relief when she confirmed that the voice belonged to who she had suspected and she rose from her chair to meet the brunette halfway across the room._

 _"I'm bored," the blonde defended with yet another sigh, "you cannot fathom the number of times I have read that book…"_

 _"Fathom?" the other girl smirked with crossed arms._

 _Emma shook her head in faux exasperation and replied, "I read all of the time, Lily, I know more words than I will ever need to know."_

 _The other girl rolled her eyes and blew out a breath, "you complain all the time about boredom and yet you have never done a thing to fight against it."_

 _"I know everything that this palace has to offer," the blonde replied in resignation, "there is nothing that could possibly excite me here…"_

 _"You just answered your own question, princess," the brunette chuckled and continued when she received a very much confused expression in return, "if you wish to find adventure, then you have to leave the castle. I'm meant to be meeting my mother in the village soon…you should come with me!"_

 _Emma stared blankly at her friend for a couple of seconds, before she blinked a few times and began shaking her head, "I can't leave…"_

 _"Why?" Lily laughed, with a hint of frustration. When her mother had first started working here, she was more surprised than anyone to discover that there had been a princess living here whom she had never heard of. It only got stranger when she and her mother were each forced to take an oath to keep that secret to themselves for the rest of their lives in exchange for generous pay and excellent living conditions. On top of all of this bizarreness, the king and queen had spent a lot of their time pushing her to spend time with their daughter. At first it had been rather awkward, it seemed as if the girl had no experience interacting with other children, which was something that Lily had quickly discovered to be true. It had taken months for the two of them to form what could resemble a friendship, but it was obvious that the blonde had a long way to go before she would be capable of forming the kinds of relationships that the future queen of the White Kingdom should be able to. And she was convinced that getting away from the palace would be the first step for Emma to escape what she could only assume was some kind of severe introversion._

 _The other girl frowned at her only friend's question and took a moment to consider it. She couldn't remember a time when she had ever left the palace grounds, so she had never had a reason to question it. It wasn't as if she could complain since she had everything she needed to stay alive, but she had always felt as if there were something missing._

 _"I…I don't know, but my parents must have a good reason for keeping me here…they would not trap their own daughter for no reason…"_

 _Lily tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, there was a clear unevenness about the blonde's defence, "you've never thought about it have you?"_

 _Emma's shoulder's slumped and she looked at the ground, "I think all of the time about crossing the boundary of the grounds, but I can't disobey my parents. I have to trust that whatever the reasoning behind it all, they are just trying to give me my best chance."_

 _"How is not declaring that you exist for the best?"_

 _"I..I don't know…" the blonde replied with a slight crack in her voice._

 _"Just come to the village with me and you will see what they are taking away from you," Lily begged, "there is so much more than this palace…"_

 _The blonde was about to reply, but she was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat._

 _Emma's eyes shot up and her throat instantly closed up, "Mrs Lucas…" she stuttered out. She was sure that it would be a while before she saw her tutor again and she couldn't imagine a worse moment for her overhear._

 _The older woman, who was referred affectionately as 'Granny' by most, just shook her head and looked cautiously at the brunette across the room. She was one of the few people who knew the true reason that the princess was not allowed to leave the castle and that was only because she had also been tutor to Snow White herself._

 _"I received word that my daughter was mistaken as to the true signs of labour, I thought perhaps you would benefit from our usual session, seeing as we both had free time on our hands, princess."_

 _Emma nodded a little too enthusiastically and went back over to her table to pick back up the book she had been reading._

 _Lily swallowed hard and watched her friend go before she turned back to the older woman and looked at her pleadingly, silently asking her not to tell anyone what she had just heard._

 _Granny looked at her regretfully for a moment, before she decided that the child's mentality would be too dangerous if she allowed their friendship to continue._

 _With a regretful sigh, she said, "Emma, dear, begin your reading, I must go and inform your mother that I won't be departing today." The blonde nodded and the older woman turned to look at Lily, "I believe that you should leave the princess in peace."_

 _The brunette nodded slowly and looked over her shoulder at Emma, before she swallowed hard and proceeded to follow her friend's tutor._

 _Once they were outside, the younger of the pair said, "please don't tell the queen."_

 _Granny sighed and replied, "I'm afraid I have no choice."_

"That's why my parents fired your mother," Emma said slowly. She had known that her parents had gone to some extreme measures to ensure that she would be safe, but she didn't think that they would have fired a mother and daughter and take away their home.

"Your mother said that you having a friend wasn't worth the risk of you being led astray," the brunette shrugged.

The blonde clenched her jaw, but she relaxed slightly when Dawn put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. Turning, she smiled at the other woman, who smiled back and then dropped her hand back to her side.

Emma turned back to her first ever friend and asked, "did they compensate the two of you in any way?"

"I believe that your father wanted to, but the queen was adamant that you would only be safe when we were gone. She seemed very shaken by what could have happened if your tutor hadn't interrupted my plan," Lily replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I can't believe they would do such a thing…there must be something that I can do to make it up to the two of you…"

The brunette shook her head and replied, "I survived…"

Emma was about to protest, before she furrowed her brow when she realised that there was something strange about what she had asked, "what about your mother?"

The other woman looked at the ground, and she sighed heavily, "we attempted to move back to my grandparents' village a few years ago, but on the way there, we were attacked by bandits…she told me to run back here…"

The blonde swallowed hard when it struck her exactly what she meant and she instantly came forward and put her arms around her, pulling her into a hug, "I'm so sorry."

Lily accepted the hug gratefully and shook her head, "it wasn't your fault…"

Emma pulled back, allowing her arms to drop to her side, shaking her own head she replied, "if my parents hadn't sent the two of you away, your mother probably would have been working in the castle and both of you would be completely safe…"

"Emma…" Dawn said cautiously behind her, she couldn't help the feeling that her step-mother was planning something that she may regret.

"I'm sick of just going along with what they wanted!" the blonde exploded, "they claim that they were trying to protect me, which would have been fine. But they put other people in danger to do so, which is not okay!"

Turning back to the other brunette, she said, "would you mind coming with me to the castle? I need to speak with my parents…"

"Err…" the waitress said, looking over her shoulder to the door that led to the tavern full of patrons.

"When I'm done, I promise that you will not need to work another day in your life."

Lily blinked a few times and looked over to Dawn, almost as if she would tell her that this was some very elaborate prank, but the other woman just nodded to tell her that the princess was being very serious.

"Okay," she finally said.

* * *

"Where have you been?!" Snow asked as she ran over to the blonde entering the dining room. As it had turned out, she had been far too anxious to even consider her nap, so she had instead jut laid in bed and waited for a servant to eventually come and get her dinner. In the interim, all she could think about was the fact that her husband could very well be right. Emma did look happier than she had in years, probably ever since she had realised that it wasn't normal for her to be confined in a castle for her entire life.

Once she had arrived at the dining room, she and her husband sat in silence as they ate. The tension was so thick and the only thing that had been able to cut through it had been the doors opening to reveal her daughter. It didn't escape her attention that Dawn was not with her, it was something that she was rather happy about, but she knew that the brunette had probably just gone to have dinner with her prince.

"I went to go and see the town," Emma replied as her mother hugged her tightly, though she made a point of not hugging the woman back. Once Snow realised that the blonde was not going to bring her arms around her and she took a step back with a frown.

Looking over her shoulder at her husband, she swallowed hard and then turned back to her very tense daughter, "did something happen?" she asked.

Emma just nodded and took a step back so that she was completely out of her mother's proximity, "you ruined Lily's life because she suggested that I leave the castle once."

Snow furrowed her brow for a moment as she took her words, before she replied very much confused, "Lily?"

As if by reply, a somewhat familiar brunette crossed the threshold and the queen inspected the timid woman, before realisation crashed down upon her.

"You fired her mother and they both lost everything…you didn't even compensate them…" the princess said slowly, almost as if she were trying to come to terms with the fact that her parents would have done such a thing.  
"We reserve the right to dismiss anyone from our employ," the older woman replied, though her voice was rather strained as she did so.

"You dismissed her mother based on the defiance of her child. You could have just explained to her that I was not able to leave the castle, but no, you just stripped her mother of employment, leaving them with no money and no home, how could you have done such a thing?!"

Snow opened her mouth to try and defend herself, but she felt her husband come up beside her and place a hand on her shoulder, telling her not to make this any worse.

"That was a mistake and we very much apologise," he said, bowing his head towards the brunette.

The woman's mouth fell open slightly, obviously she had never expected that she would get so much as an acknowledgement from the king, let alone an apology. Nodding quickly, she bowed her own head, "thank you, your majesty."

Emma looked between them and shook her head vigorously, "no…no that's not good enough. Lily lost her mother to bandits, they would have been perfectly safe if they had been allowed to remain here…"

David nodded quickly, preventing his wife from trying to come up with some excuse. He knew that she regretted a lot of what she did since she had made the deal with Hades and he often thought that perhaps the reason she was so defensive was because she knew that she done wrong.

"I understand that there is nothing that could ever bring back your mother," the blond said, "but is there anything that we could do to make our apology carry more meaning?"

Lily looked over to Emma for reassurance and the blond nodded quickly, silently telling her that she should ask for anything that she wants.

The brunette took a deep breath.

She knew that they were probably expecting her to ask for money or property, but she hardly believed that would be very respectful. Truly, there was nothing that could replace what she had lost, but she had an idea of what could help, though it was something that she had trying not to think about since her mother's untimely demise.

"My mother…when she sent me away from the bandits…she told me that…she found me as a baby…"

Charming and Snow exchanged a look with furrowed brows as they wondered how they could possibly help.

"I have very few clues as to who my biological parents are…and I lack the funds to find any more information…"

"And?" Snow sighed.

Emma huffed at her mother and said, "the way that you can compensate her is to provide her with the funds that she needs so that she no longer needs to work at the tavern. That would give her the time that she needs to find her parents."

David once again cut off his wife, sensing her defensiveness was about to escape her lips, "of course."

Lily stared at him in shock for a moment, she had been almost certain that her request would be denied, especially after Emma had added to it.

The blonde nudged her quickly and she bowed her head again, deeply this time as she said, "thank you, your majesty."

Emma smiled slightly at her father, thanking him for being reasonable, before she turned on her heels and led the other woman out of the room.

Once the door had closed behind them, Lily fell back against the wall as she tried to take in what had just happened. She had never thought that she would see Emma again in her life and she had certainly never thought that she would provide her with more than she could have ever hoped for. She had been taught that working was just another part of life, but now it seemed as though she would never have to do so again and she would potentially get to meet her biological parents. Though they could never replace the woman who had given her everything, including her own life, at least she wouldn't have to feel so alone in the world anymore.

"Thank you," she breathed, finally making eye contact with her old friend.

"It was the least I could do, I had no idea that they would have done such a thing…" the princess replied with clenched fists.

Lily nodded, she considered not replying, but she found that she couldn't just not say what was on her mind, "before the bandits attacked, I had been arguing with my mother. I didn't want to move to another village, I was convinced that I was old enough to live on my own. She insisted that she didn't want me to be alone. It took me years to figure out that wasn't truly the reason…if she had moved alone, then she would have missed me. I certainly wouldn't have been able to visit her very often considering how dangerous the route is…"

"What's your point?" the blonde asked with a tilted head.

"My point is that I allowed our last conversation to be an argument because I couldn't understand that she was just trying to protect me…not until she had a dagger against her throat..."

Emma nodded slowly and let out a long sigh, "you're saying that I shouldn't be arguing with my parents when they have devoted their lives to protecting me, even if they went the wrong way about doing so?"

The brunette nodded and the other woman sighed deeply as she looked back at the closed door, "I suppose that I didn't have the chance to eat…"

Lily nodded and turned to walk away, before she furrowed her brow and turned back to the blonde.

Emma smiled at her and said, "you can stay in my chambers until someone sets up a room for you."

The brunette nodded and the blonde motioned for a guard to show her the way.

Once her friend was out of sight, she took a deep breath and turned towards the door, "I can be civil," she mumbled, before she stepped forward to enter the dining room.

 **A/N Reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen

Emma bit the inside of her cheek as she considered how she could possibly explain her situation to Lily. The past couple of days had been spent trying to help Lily find any information on her parents, but it wasn't as if she had actually had much to go on. Her adoptive mother hadn't exactly been in a position to tell her more with a knife against her throat.

It was for this reason that they had achieved nothing but situating the former bar maid into the White palace. Though Snow wasn't exactly over the moon about the whole situation, she didn't speak up when her daughter chose to spend time with Lily or Dawn instead of her parents. This meant that Emma wasn't quite as resistant to have lunch or dinner with them. Each conversation was strained and there were many long pauses since the three of them were actively avoiding certain topics, mainly the fact that she would be leaving very soon.

During breakfast that morning, neither of them had brought the fact that they didn't know the next time they would be seeing her or the fact that she would be going back to the Underworld. Instead, they had just each hugged her for about twenty extra seconds to what could be considered normal.

Emma was oddly comforted by the fact that they chose to do this, but it did mean that neither of them were yet comfortable with the reality that they were living with. It did mean that they were no longer trying to get her to stay under their 'protection' and the fact that she had not seen any sign of the Blue Fairy meant that they were making progress. Perhaps the next time she came to the Enchanted Forest, they could even have a real conversation that didn't devolve into an argument.

When she went back to her chambers to prepare for returning to her new home, she realised that there was something important that she would have to do before she left until she decided to return.

She had promised Lily that she would help her to improve her life after the wrongs of her parents and she had been planning to just disappear without much explanation. She decided that was not something she could do. She had missed Lily after she had left with not even an attempt at a goodbye. It was for this reason that she had decided that honesty would be the best policy in this case and if her friend thought that she was insane, then she wouldn't have to deal with it until she returned to the palace.

"You asked to see me, Emma?" Lily asked from the doorway. She looked rather timid despite the fact that they had spent a fair amount of time around each other over the past couple of days, she still felt rather disconcerted about just how rapidly her life had changed. For the first time in her entire life, she had walked out of work early and when she woke up the next morning, she didn't have to go straight to her second job at the local market. After she and her mother had been sent away from the castle, she had never thought for a second that she would be called to come and talk to the princess in her chambers again.

When Emma looked up at her and smiled tentatively, Lily frowned when she realised that whatever this was about could be serious and she felt her throat constrict. She knew that this was all too good to be true. Instantly, thoughts that the king and queen had changed their minds began running through her mind and she resisted the urge to sigh. Of course royalty was not obligated to care about her.

Emma furrowed her brow when she noticed the panic upon her friend's face and she quickly stood from her bed and motioned for her to come into the room, hoping that she was being somewhat comforting.

"There is something important that I have to tell you, Lily," the blonde said, "it might sound unbelievable and I'm really hoping that it doesn't change your opinion of me…"

"After all you have done for me, there isn't much that could lower my high opinion of you," the brunette replied, coming over to stand next to the princess.

Emma nodded slowly, whilst also falling back down to sit on her bed and after a moment, Lily did the same. She looked at the other woman cautiously. If she was being sent away from the castle, then she was certain that there was no way that she would still have her job in the tavern. She was pretty sure that she wouldn't be able to deal with having everything taken away from her again because of their kingdom's monarchs.

"I know that I promised you that I would help you find your parents…but there's something I failed to mention when I made that promise…the reason that my parents were so fiercely protective of me was that they made a deal with someone which put me in danger. So they enchanted the castle to ensure my safety, which was the reason that I was not allowed to leave. The enchantment lost its power when I turned twenty-one…"

"Okay…" Lily replied unsurely. This was certainly not the direction she had expected this conversation to take, but now she truly had no idea what they were talking about. And truth be told, she was rather afraid of what could have the princess so worried, especially if it involved the reason that she had been forced to stay in her parents form of protective custody for so long. "What was the enchanted designed to protect against?"

Emma frowned for a moment as something occurred to her. It was rather cruel that her parent's protection had technically been the reason that she had been taken in the first place. Regina would have never taken her as a baby. But at the same time, she couldn't help the feeling that she would have never gotten a chance to be the goddess's wife if they hadn't defied the woman. Somehow, that made it all worth it in her mind. All of the joy that she had felt in the past few months was worth the twenty-one years' worth of intense boredom.

"Hades," the princess replied after a moment of consideration.

Lily laughed nervously, shifting away slightly, as she said, "you're joking?"

The blonde shook her head and waited to see if the woman had any more questions, but it seemed as though she was completely incapable of thinking of any kind of response.

It was for that reason that she decided to just continue with her explanation:

"My father was going to die, so Hades made a deal with my mother to give him another chance in exchange for her first child. My mother believed that she was completely barren, so she agreed in order to save her True Love. When they discovered years later that she was with child, they both panicked and called for the Blue Fairy's help. She was only able to cast such a powerful enchantment over the castle which would only last twenty-one years…"

"And when you turned twenty-one Hades was no longer prevented from coming to claim her prize?" the brunette sighed, though she had no idea how this information made sense considering that the princess was still in the Enchanted Forest and not being tortured in the Underworld for the sins of her parents.

"It's not like that!" Emma shot back quickly, much to the surprise of the other woman. When she saw Lily's surprised look though, she quickly relaxed by blowing out a breath as she began formulating some way to explain herself. "Regina…she isn't like the stories we've always been told…"

"Regina?"

"Oh…Hades is a title of sorts, her name is actually Regina," she explained, hoping that she wasn't making herself sound even more insane, but it did seem oddly like the woman believed her for whatever reason.

"Okay…so how is she different?" Lily asked sceptically.

"When I turned twenty-one, she took me as her wife to get back at my parents…but after a while, it didn't seem like it was about that anymore. It seemed like she actually cared about me. She allowed me every request I made and took every step possible to make sure that I was happy. Despite her hatred for my mother and father, she offered a way for me to come and visit it them because she could see that it was what I needed…"

The brunette swallowed hard and took a moment to take all of this in. She knew that if this was anyone else, she would probably have written them off as bat shit insane at the start of this conversation. However, she could just tell that Emma was telling the truth somehow, so she didn't see any reason to bother trying to waste time by denying it. No matter though, she could still feel a sense of shock, which was the reason that the only thing she could think to say was, "you're married to a goddess?"

Emma nodded slowly as she inspected her. She fully expected her to say that she didn't believe her and that she didn't want help from someone who believed that they were married to a divine goddess. But she looked more like she was just trying to work through what she had been told, which she could fully understand.

"And I'm due to return to the Underworld any minute now…I didn't plan to tell you all of this so soon, but I didn't want you to feel as though I had abandoned my promise to help you…I also didn't want to be dishonest with you…"

The brunette bit the inside of her cheek, she knew that she would need time to process all of this, but she also already knew that she eventually would. There was one issue with what she had said that had her worried though:

"You're leaving?" she asked in a somewhat small voice. She couldn't help but think without Emma around, her parents were not obligated to come through with their vow of help.

"This is no longer my home, but it won't be too terribly long until I return. At the very least, my father seems to understand that he must help you, so you have no reason to fear in my absence. You will get all of that I have promised you. Do not be afraid to ask for anything you need while I am not here."

Lily nodded, though she was still rather worried about how little information she had to go on, she also had no doubt that her best chance would be with the support of the royal family.

So, without warning, she surged forward and wrapped around the other woman, "thank you," she whispered.

Emma smiled weakly and brought a hand up to rest on her back comfortingly, "it was the least I could do, Lily."

The brunette smiled and leaned back, "most royalty do not care to right their wrongs…but I suppose that you've never really been like most royalty, especially not now…"

"How do you mean?" Emma asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"You're the wife of a goddess who wishes to make you happy, there is obviously something different about you. I doubt that Hades would be willing to deal with any typical princess."

The blonde smiled fondly as she wondered just how Regina would take to some of the more stuck up people she had met at her birthday ball. She couldn't really see the brunette immortal being putting up with their nonsense, and yet, she put up with her insatiable need for adventure and new discoveries. There was obviously something about her that Regina found charming or she would have never even agreed to have that first meal with her that had been the start of their relationship.

"I suppose you're right," Emma smiled.

* * *

Regina tapped her foot against the floor while she considered what she should be doing right now.

She was well aware that her wife would be returning any minute and she had no idea whether she should be waiting for her. Since she had eaten the seed in the throne room, the blonde would undoubtedly be returning to the same spot. It was for that reason that Regina was now sat in the library so that it didn't seem that she was waiting for her return. But then she considered that perhaps it wasn't a bad thing that she was eagerly awaiting the return of her wife. That was until she realised that one kiss didn't exactly make a marriage.

Running a hand through her hair in frustration, she took a deep, calming breath. She never thought that she could be this nervous about the prospect of seeing a mortal, but she could no longer deny the fact that Emma was not like any other mortal that she had met in her life. She usually found their lives far too flitting to be of any interest. Charming had been the exception because his death would have represented the same kind of unfairness that she'd had thrust upon her by her family, since he would have lost his chance of Elysium.

"My Lady," interrupted her thoughts and she looked up with narrowed eyes at the mirror fixed to the wall opposite her.

"What?"

Sidney didn't even seem to register her frustration since it was fairly common knowledge why she was more irritable than usual. A week was a rather long time to be away from someone that you care about, especially when you have yet to define the relationship you have with them.

"Your wife has returned; she is currently talking with Graham in the throne room…would you like me to tell him to bring her to you?"

Regina looked down at the book that she had been trying to occupy herself with, even though she had yet to pass the front cover, and she rose from her chair and shook her head.

"There is no need, I am perfectly capable of walking to the throne room."

* * *

-Five minutes earlier-

Graham blew out a breath of relief as he allowed himself to lean against one of the pillars in the throne room.

Over the past week, he had been much more anxious than usual, due in no small part to the ruler of the Underworld's heightened irritability.

Since he had entered her service, he had become more than used to dealing with her foul moods that were often born from sheer boredom, but in Emma's absence it had been different. The blonde not being around obviously bothered the woman more than she was comfortable with and she enjoyed terrifying him as an out let for her frustration. That meant that the return of the princess would mean some respite from Regina. At least when the blonde was around, he wasn't subjected to the immortal brunette using him as target practice. Plus, he had heard of her plans to take her wife to other realms, which would mean that he would finally be able to spend time completely fear free, which was not something that he had experienced for more than a few days at a time.

The man remained simply staring for a moment, before a smile spread across his face when the air began to shimmer slightly. Unhitching himself from the pillar, his smile only widened when the familiar blonde finally materialised.

Emma looked around the room for a few moments, clutching the strap of the bag around her shoulders closer as she worked through the nausea that she must have been too excited to feel when she had appeared in the Enchanted Forest. After a few moments though, it passed and she looked around the room, allowing herself to grin at the surroundings that she couldn't help but grin uncontrollably at everything that she had missed so dearly in her week away. Though she frowned slightly. She had thought that the moment she returned, Regina would be sitting on her throne.

However, her frown quickly fell away when she saw that she wasn't alone in the room.

"Hello Graham," she said, offering him a small wave.

Said man smiled back at her and quickly crossed the room to hug her tightly, "I am so happy that you're back."

Emma hugged him back, laughing slightly at him, but when he pulled away and stepped out of her personal space, she asked, "you missed me, Graham?"

"I did, but there is someone who missed you far more," he replied, though he quickly clamped his mouth shut realising that he may have revealed something that Hades wouldn't wish for the princess to know. But when he thought about it more, it didn't really seem like such a bad thing. The pair had been dancing around each other since they had met and it couldn't really hurt.

Emma's eyebrows shot up, though she knew that she shouldn't really be surprised. If her wife didn't care about her, then she would never have offered to allow her to go back and visit her parents. But it was rather nice to hear that the woman did in fact care enough to miss her.

"How was your trip?" Graham asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

The blonde smiled at his way of changing the subject and replied, "it was…eventful, but I definitely needed it. And it made me feel better about thinking of the Underworld as my home…"

Hade's servant seemed to relax further at this news, the longer that she stayed here making Regina happy, the more that he would be able to relax in the future.

He was about to reply, before the sound of heels hitting the ground caught his attention, which caused Emma to look over her shoulder.

At the sight of the brunette woman, who didn't really look like she knew what expression she should be wearing, Emma's face split into the biggest smile yet and she quickly completely turned around to face the older woman.

"Hello," was all that she could think to say even though she had the urge to repeat what she had done before she had left. However, though she had been thinking about the kiss in every spare moment she had over the past week. She had gone from thinking that it had been the perfect first kiss to thinking that perhaps she should have not kissed a goddess without first asking permission. She had been worried just what the woman would say upon her return, but she could see that she wasn't at all angry, but the blonde felt a stab in her gut at the thought that it could be because she barely even remembered that the kiss happened. "How have you been?"

In response, the brunette glided across the room quickly so that she was standing in front of the other woman, but the moment that she got close, she seemed to realise that she didn't actually have a plan. In the moment, she'd had the urge to return the kiss that she had not been allowed to respond to a week earlier, but seeing the younger woman again reminded her just how little real world experience she had. As much as she wanted to be around her, Ruby's words were now stuck in her mind. She couldn't help but wonder whether this was the way that the blonde would wish to live her life if she had ever truly been given a choice. However, the thought of giving her that choice, made Regina's throat constrict at the thought that perhaps the woman would much rather enjoy some heroic adventure in the living world rather than the Underworld.

After a few moments, the goddess realised that her wife was looking at her expectantly, laced with a hint of confusion the longer that the silence went on and she finally replied, "my dominion has been rather quiet without you dear."

Emma surged forward, wrapping her arms around the older woman, who brought her own arms up after a moment of hesitation, to place on her back.

"I missed you too, Regina."

 **A/N Reviews are a great motivator ;)**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen

"Emma is gone, isn't she?" Snow whispered as she refused to meet her husband's eyes.

David smiled sadly at her resignation and said, "we knew that this was coming, my love. That's why we made the announcement that she would be leaving to explore the world…"

"Do you honestly think that anyone is going to believe that ridiculous excuse?" the brunette asked.

"Many people leave to explore; think how many lands you saw before you met me. It is now common knowledge that she was not allowed to leave the palace, so why wouldn't she go out into the world when she became of age?" he asked as reassuringly as possible.

"If you had just allowed me to bring the Blue Fairy back…" the queen began, but David held up his hand.

"She isn't brave enough to defy a goddess twice, Snow and I don't blame her. And even if we did find a way to keep Emma here, it would have been cruel. Did she not look truly happy to you? When have you ever seen anything but boredom on her? I worry just as much as you do, but we have to understand that she is now an adult and we have no say in the way that she wishes to live her life."

Snow let out a huff and violently speared a piece of chicken, she knew that her husband was correct, but she also knew that it would take more than a week to come to terms with everything. Before that, she had spent months believing that her daughter was being tortured. She had never once imagined that she was happier than she had ever been in her life. It certainly hurt that her child was so much happier living in another realm, but she could hardly deny that she had handled the impossible situation completely wrong. Perhaps it was her fault that the Emma was so much more comfortable living in the Underworld than in the Enchanted Forest?

"Before last week, we didn't even know if she was alive," David continued, "now we can at least rest easy knowing that she isn't in any pain. I know that the rest will take time to comes to term with, but at least now we know that she can visit us whenever she wants to. We just need to make sure that she actually wants to."

"And how do you suggest that we do that?"

"We need to make sure that we fulfil the promise we made to her friend. We need to ensure that Lily is treated as royalty and that she is given anything she asks for. We need to acknowledge that what we did was wrong and work to make things as right as we possibly can..." he replied, looking at his wife cautiously, hoping that he wouldn't be sent away like the last time that they had discussed the topic of Emma.

"I know," the queen sighed deeply as she ran a hand across her face. The pair fell into silence for a moment, before Snow asked, "how could I have done such terrible things?"

"It is not only you who has to bare the blame. We both did all of those things. We both made the decision to enchant the castle and to keep Emma here."

"But I made the decision to accept a deal from a goddess, I am the one who doomed Emma to this fate…."

"You did not believe that it was possible to have a child to give to Hades. There would have been no reason for you to not take that offer and I am thankful every day that you did. If you hadn't, then Emma would have never had the chance to exist, we just have to believe that this is all the plan of the Fates. We have to believe that Emma will find the happy ending that she was always supposed to get and there is no way that we will be part of it if we don't even try and accept it."

Snow blew out a breath and motioned to her personal guard standing guard behind her, "inform the servants to invite Lily to dinner."

* * *

"So how is it that you know Princess Emma?" Devin asked, looking over the top of the book his girlfriend was currently reading.

Dawn rolled her eyes fondly and briefly wondered why the prince always insisted on coming into the library whenever she tried to sit down and read in peace.

"We met at the ball," she replied, "why?"

"You seemed rather close," he said sceptically.

The brunette bit the inside of her cheek and not for the first time she thought about simply telling him the truth. However, considering that they hadn't really been together for that long in the grand scheme of things, she was having a pretty hard time finding the right time to tell him that she was the immortal demi-god daughter of Hades.

"Some friendships are just meant to be, I suppose," she replied, "your brother seemed to grow rather attached to her within seconds."

"Killian has different motives," Devin sighed, "he just saw a princess who he hasn't seduced yet, she may have been the only one left…"

"Which is precisely why I felt the need to go and talk to her, to protect her against your brother…"

"If she needed help, then why she be allowed to go and adventure on her own?"

Dawn blew out a breath and said, "I just wanted to save her from talking him."

Devin tilted his head and gave her a look a disbelief, he had known for a long time that there was something she was hiding but he enjoyed spending time with her so he had decided that he could just let it go. Everyone was entitled to their secrets, but he also knew that there was no way that their relationship would be able to move forward unless she decided to tell him.

"Okay…" he said slowly, making it clear that he knew she was lying.

The brunette swallowed hard, feeling bad as she always did whenever she lied to him and she asked, "so how long are we going to stay here?"

"Kilian said that the negotiations should be finished soon, so I would imagine that we should be able to leave in a few days."

Dawn nodded and closed the book in her hand before she asked, "perhaps we should go for a picnic…I've heard much about the beauty of the White Kingdom meadows…"

Devin smiled gratefully at the change of subject and said, "I'll request the food right away," before he brought up her hand placed a light kiss to the skin.

* * *

"They threw you a ball?" Regina repeated with raised eyebrows.

Emma swallowed the bite of food in her mouth and nodded, "they wanted to finally announce my existence to the kingdoms."

"I suppose that it would be nice for them to actually know that there is an heir to their throne," the brunette said thoughtfully.

"Well…there isn't really an heir, right?" Emma asked, her face pinching adorably as she thought about it, "I am married…and I don't live in their realm…"

Regina allowed a small smile to tug at the corner of her lips and said, "I suppose you're right, but I'm assuming that your parents didn't advertise that fact to the kingdom."

"The ball was mostly just introducing myself to the royalty of other kingdoms and watching Dawn freak out my parents," Emma chuckled as she brought up the glass of wine to her lips and allowed the delicious liquid to pass her lips.

"Dawn?" Regina asked.

"Devin was a guest at the ball and I don't think that she wanted to miss the opportunity," the blonde replied, "it didn't take her more than two seconds for her to tell them exactly how she knew me."

The brunette shook her head and smirked intensely as she imagined the look on their faces when they found out that they had a step-granddaughter.

"She took me into the village too and explained a lot of things," Emma replied.

"Perhaps the next time that you visit your parents, you could actually try and spend time with your parents?"

The blonde nodded her agreement, "they were making it difficult at first, but I think that the next time it will be easier to be in the same room as them…"

"And when would be the next time?" Regina asked, trying her best to sound disinterested, but she failed miserably.

"Well…my mother's birthday is in two months…" Emma replied.

The brunette nodded and the pair of them fell into silence as they continued their meals.

Emma kept looking up to Regina for over five minutes as she considered what she wanted to ask her, but she wasn't sure whether she had the right to actually ask. Eventually, though, she came to the conclusion that she had never really been afraid to say anything to her wife in the past so there was no reason that she couldn't come right out and say what was on her mind.

"How was your week?" she asked.

Regina looked up, somewhat surprised, and replied, "it was completely uneventful."

"The whole week?" the blonde asked with a frown, instantly thinking back to the many weeks that she had spent in complete and utter boredom.

"Weeks tend to go by rather quickly for me," the immortal replied by way of justifying her answer, though she knew that she was actually lying. Last week had felt like the longest of her life. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to just lounging around for days at a time, but this time she actually had something to look forward to. Every moment, she had thought about Emma returning to the Underworld and she had become increasingly worried that the blonde would tell her upon her return that she didn't want to live there any longer. She had been so relieved when she had been hugged and she couldn't imagine trying to get through another week like it, but she also knew that she would never force Emma to stay with her.

"I…" Emma began, trying to think of a way to apologise, though she wasn't completely sure that she needed to. She certainly felt bad that she had left Regina behind and she had missed her intensely, but at the same time she also knew that her wife had lived longer than she could possibly fathom. She couldn't really imagine that there was any way that a mortal leaving for a week would be that bad for her.

"I don't know if you have noticed, dear, but the Underworld is not the most alive plane of existence, I believe that you may be the only one capable of finding excitement here."

Emma's frown instantly morphed into a small grin and she replied, "we could go to a 'plane of existence' where you can find excitement."

Regina was about to tell her that she had explored almost every each of existence during her many years, but the she thought about the look on Emma's face when she saw something new and she knew instantly that there was no way that she could turn down the offer.

"I believe that I did promise to show you Wonderland upon your return…"

A huge smile spread across the princess's face and she nodded, "tomorrow?"

"I would say that you should get an early night, but I highly doubt that you would actually be able to sleep."

Emma chuckled lightly as she placed the last piece of food into her mouth and said, "I can actually try, I suppose."

With that, she rose to her feet and walked over to her wife, "I almost forgot," she said as she reached into her pocket and brought out the bracelet she had gotten at the market, "I brought something for you."

Regina's eyebrows shot up higher than they had before and she inspected the piece of jewellery she was being offered.

It was certainly beautiful, but it was immediately obvious that it was not made of any material that gifts from royalty would usually be. However, she couldn't really find herself caring.

"I know that it isn't some kind of priceless item, but I noticed that you wear this shade of purple more than any other colour so I thought that you would appreciate it," Emma explained, a crimson hue developing across her cheeks as she continued to ramble.

The brunette opened her mouth in shock for a few moments, before she said in disbelief, "you brought me a gift?"

"You allowed me to visit my parents…I wanted to show you how much it meant to me…" she replied, shifting awkwardly for a moment and Regina realised that she had yet to even move to take the bracelet.

Slowly, she raised her hand and took from the younger woman. It was extravagant or grand, but somehow it was the most perfect gift that she had ever received.

"Thank you," she breathed, still trying to process what had just happened.

Emma smiled at her and said, "you have done so much for me…it was the least I could do really."

Regina nodded, her eyes still on the piece of jewellery as she tried to think of something that she could say in response, but nothing came to mind.

The blonde shifted from foot to foot with a blush still upon her face and she said, "I think that I should retire to bed, it has been a rather long day and it sounds as though tomorrow is going to be just as exhausting."

The brunette just nodded again and said, "of course, we'll leave for Wonderland the moment we both finish breakfast."

 **A/N I would love to hear what you thought :)**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter twenty

Emma bounced up and down on the balls of her feet and looked around.

Never in her life had she thought that she would get to see many colours and the moment that she had materialised in this new realm, her eyes had been assaulted.

Regina watched the princess with an amused smirk, until she realised that her hand was still on her forearm from poofing and her eyes widened slightly as she considered whether they had ever remained in contact for this long. The hug had certainly been wonderful, but she had felt as though it hadn't last nearly as long as she would have liked it to.

After a moment of looking around the sheer strangeness of Wonderland, Emma seemed to become aware of what Regina was looking at and quickly brought her hand away, intense blush creeping up her neck. However, it hadn't escaped her notice that the older woman hadn't even tried to clear her throat or had shifted uncomfortably as if the contact had been unwelcome.

The pair stood in silence for a very awkward moment, before Regina asked, "so what exactly is it that you wish to explore?"

"You don't need a plan to explore," the blonde chuckled, "you just…you know…explore."

Regina laughed lightly and shook her head, gesturing in a random direction, "shall we then?"

Emma nodded and the pair began to walk in silence. The younger of the pair looked in wonder at everything they passed, whereas Regina gaze was trained almost exclusively to her wife. She had seen everything that this realm had to offer, in fact, she had seen things that had long ago vanished from this realm. However, the one thing that she hadn't seen was someone willing to walk beside her as she ventured forth aimlessly. All of the exploration that she had done in her first years as Hades on by herself. She saw new things almost every day and she had thought for a brief period in time that perhaps being the Lord of the Underworld wasn't quite the punishment that she had imagined it to be.

It didn't take long, though, for her to realise that there was only so much in the universe that could occupy her attention. While she was exploring new lands, there was never one that she wanted to stay in for longer than a couple weeks at most, because she had no reason to. At the end of every adventure, she would always have to return to the Underworld, with only Graham's nervous disposition to offer her some amusement. Though that had quickly begun to wear thin.

"Are you okay?"

Regina frowned and looked up to Emma's eyes, her feet stopping in their tracks. She hadn't realised that the blonde had been looking back at her for a couple minutes instead of taking in her surroundings and she actually looked rather worried.

"Yes, I'm fine dear, why do you ask?" she replied unconvincingly.

"You look as though you were deep in thought," Emma said, "like you were thinking about something painful…"

Regina opened her mouth but she quickly realised that she didn't know how to reply to such an expression of concern. Dawn was usually the only one to care about her well-being and Graham only cared so that she didn't get angry and lash out at him.

"I was just wondering how long it has been since I was last here…" she lied.

The princess frowned, still not convinced that she was telling the truth, "how long has it been?"

"I believe I might have travelled here for some fresh air five centuries ago…or was that Camelot?"

Emma tilted her head and thought to press the matter, but she knew that outright asking was not always the best option. When someone had lived as long as Hades had, they were bound to have some things that they would much rather keep quiet.

Before she could let out a sceptical 'okay', she stopped when someone violently bumped into Regina's shoulder.

They both spun around, she looks at the hunched man covered in a clock, who was mumbling that he was sorry and she realised that she was so focused on her wife that she hadn't even noticed that he had probably been behind them. For a moment, she thought that she could be suspicious that they were being followed, but then it occurred to her that they had obviously been walking on a public road, so she just shook off her suspicions.

Emma looked over to Regina, who was critically inspecting the figure.

"It's okay," the princess replied, smiling reassuringly, "we shouldn't have stopped in the middle of the road."

The man nodded animatedly, and began to walk away, but he stopped in his tracks when Regina said, "wait!"

He hesitated for a moment, considering whether he could run faster than them, but he quickly decided that continuing with his façade would be the best option and turned around, making sure to keep his head down.

"Yes?" he asked.

Regina stalked towards him and narrowed her eyes at the apparently old, frail man.

"Did you not see us?" she asked.

Emma opened her mouth to interject, but the brunette held up her hand to signal her to be quiet. She wondered if the blonde would always be so trusting, it wasn't as if he was even doing that good of a job of pretending to be a helpless old man.

"I…" he began, swallowing hard. He had thought that he had just seen two women who would be easy to gain sympathy from and then quickly get away with whatever was in his hand. The colour drained from his face as he felt the cloth slip away from his face magically and he looked up to see the brunette holding her hand out.

Blowing out a breath of frustration he stood up straight and watched as the blonde's eyebrows shot up in surprise, obviously she was seeing that she was wrong.

"Bloody hell," he sighed, before he attempted to quickly turn on his heels in an effort to bolt, but he found that he could only move the top half of his body and looked down at his feet that were engulfed in a purple hue. "Why can't I just rob a normal person?"

"Give it back," Regina said in a deceptively calm tone as she stalked towards him with an outstretched hand.

Emma frowned and wondered how Regina had noticed that she had been pickpocketed when she hadn't even seen his hand move near her pocket. Though she knew that it would be hard to deny that the woman obviously had more experience than any single mortal had, even those who hadn't been isolated in a palace for twenty-one-years. A second later though, she registered the anger on the brunette's face and she was pretty sure that she would be so angry if it had just been a pouch of money.

"It's just a ring, love, is it really worth all of this?" he asked desperately, hoping that she wasn't about to snap his neck.

Regina huffed audibly and turned her hand over, allowing a ball of fire to form in her palm, "give. It. Back," she growled.

The blonde's eyes widened and she quickly ran forward to grab the bank of her wife's arm, instantly, the contact caused the flame to go out and Regina looked over her shoulder at the blonde. Swallowing hard, she realised what she was about to do. She had never actually killed a mortal in her many years, despite what the stories said, it wasn't as if she wanted to punish herself by sending someone insufferable to her dominion earlier than they had to be there.

Taking a few deep breaths, she put out her hand and looked at the man menacingly.

"That ring is not worth what will be coming to you in the afterlife if you don't return it to me, Will Scarlet."

The Knave of Heart's mouth fell open and he quickly reached forward to deposit the piece of jewellery into her hand. He may not have any idea who these two women's, but he would have to be completely insane to not do as he was told. Even a man with no heart knew that this woman was to be feared, "my deepest apologies," he said desperately, bowing his head in hopes that humility would help to prevent his death.

Regina clutched the ring tighter in her fist when she saw Emma staring intently at her hand, trying to figure out what was worth that response. Quickly, she shoved the ring into her pocket and waved her hand.

"I would run if I were you," she said as the magical restraints disappeared, quickly realising that she would have ruined Alice's chances of being with Cyrus if she had killed him before he went to get her from the asylum.

Will nodded quickly and stumbled away before he ran off in the opposite direction.

Once he was out of sight, Regina turned to Emma, who dropped her hand from her arm for the second time in a single hour and the older of the pair said, "I'm sorry that you had to see that, dear."

The princess shot her a reassuring smile and replied, "it's rather obvious that you could have done much worse…but why was the ring was important?"

Regina opened her mouth and considered telling her exactly why she had been so protective over the simple golden band that she had been carrying around for some time now, but she felt her throat constrict and shook her head.

"We should continue with the exploration," she deflected and began walking forward.

Emma looked at her back for a moment, before she decided she could try and broach the topic later and so followed the goddess further into Wonderland.

* * *

 _Regina sighed and looked down at the ring in her palm._

" _I know you're there," she said over her shoulder._

 _Graham let out a small squeak and tried to hide, but there was nowhere that he could possibly go in the stretch of empty space. It had been a week since the union of Persephone and Athena and Regina had been more than pissed off. The Fates had offered her no insights into if her life would be getting better any time soon._

" _I…I wanted to ask if you would be wanting dinner…" he said, barely audibly, "you haven't eaten all week…."_

" _I don't require food, Graham," she replied, shifting to look back at the river._

 _The man swallowed hard and almost launched forward to grab her from the bank, but he thought better of it and instead just let out another squeak of worry. As much as Regina scared the immortal to death, he didn't want her near the River Lethe._

" _But…" he tried as he desperately attempted to think of an excuse as to why she shouldn't be sitting near the river that could rob one of their memories._

" _If I thought that this was the solution, I would have done it a long time ago," she snapped, "now will you leave me before I devote my time to discovering a way to kill an immortal."_

 _Graham's eyes widened and he quickly nodded before he spun on his heels and began walking away as quickly as possible._

 _Once she no longer felt his anxious energy, she looked back down to the hand. She had given the ring to Ruby after they had defeated her mother and she never thought that it would be the only one she would ever give her. The engagement ring was made of the most precious materials that the goddess could find at the time, with the help of Marco (later known as Hephaestus) and she had been in the process and trying to make the wedding ring when just before she had been given her godly title._

 _Turning it over between her fingers, she took a deep breath and tried desperately not to think about being subjected to the marriage ceremony of her first love._

 _With a deep breath, she tried to replace the sound of the vows with what the Fates had said. It wasn't as though she had ever thought that she and Ruby would be getting back together, because she knew that she would never want to subject the woman to living in the Underworld. As awful as the experience had been, it had been kind of nice to see just how happy the brunette was with her new wife. The way that Belle looked at her as they were married echoed exactly how she had felt about her before everything had changed and she tried to convince herself that she could get past her jealousy since she knew that the woman she loved was happy. However, she also couldn't imagine that there would ever be a day when she didn't feel as though she had been robbed of something. Her life hadn't been fair and she couldn't help but think that as long as she held the title of Hades, she couldn't possibly find her 'new Persephone'._

 _Clenching her jaw out of anger, she stared at the ring she had been hanging on to for centuries and after a few moments she rose to her feet and brought it closer to her face. With a couple deep breaths, she relaxed her hand and tossed it into the river._

* * *

Emma intently rubbed two sticks together with her eyebrows knit together and blew out a breath of frustration.

Regina watched in amusement from her position on a log and said, "we do have the funds to sleep at a tavern…or we could return to the Underworld…"

The blonde looked up from her attempt to build a fire and shook her head adamantly, "I have never slept outside…"

"Most people would be happy about that fact," the brunette sighed, "but if you think that is essential to your adventure…" with that she rose to her feet and walked over to her. Emma furrowed her brow for a moment, but quickly realised what she wanted to do and leaned back to give her the space to do what she wanted to.

The goddess clicked her fingers and a small fire erupted between them.

The blonde admired the flames for a second before she looked up to her wife as she walked back over to the log, "I must admit that adventures are far easier with magic involved…"

Regina smirked at her again as the exhausted woman leaned back on her hands and took in a deep breath of the forest air. Today had been so ridiculously enjoyable and she was sure that it had everything to do with the fact that this was probably the longest she had ever spent with her wife and unlike every other night, they were still in proximity with one another. At this thought, she quickly looked down at the ground in hopes that the older woman wouldn't see the blush on her face.

The brunette watched her for a moment, before she said, "you should get some sleep, dear."

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow.

"Since you have never slept outside, you probably have never experienced the lack of safety that comes with it. If we both sleep at the same time, there is every chance that we will be seen as easy targets…"

Emma was about to nod, but she quickly frowned as a thought occurred to her, "you're immortal…they wouldn't be able to do anything to do you…"

Regina resisted the urge to close her eyes in frustration. Emma always seemed to be able to tell when she was lying or hiding something, but she didn't want to tell her the truth as to why she didn't want to sleep. The truth was that she didn't know what exactly the arrangement would be. Would they sleep close to one another? It wasn't as if she could sleep too far away from her wife since she wouldn't be able to protect her as quickly if something did happen.

The blonde watched the woman for a moment, clearly trying to come up with a reason to justify what she had said and after a second, the younger woman decided that she could just change the subject. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that the goddess cared about her, so she didn't really mind that the immortal had yet to really admit anything out loud.

"I'm not really tired yet…I'm hungry actually," she said.

Regina almost blew out a breath of relief, but she quickly stopped herself and replied, "of course."

With a wave of her hand, a rather large bowl of soup appeared in front of the princess, along with a goblet of water.

"Are you not going to join me?"

"Eating on the floor?" the brunette asked, looking down at the ground distastefully.

Emma rolled her eyes playfully and picked up the bowl of soup, walking over to the log to sit next to the goddess, "of course not, besides, I couldn't possibly eat all of this alone," she replied as she handed the food over to her wife.

The brunette allowed herself to smile for a moment, but she quickly realised that there was something she was meant to be doing and she waved her hand to make another spoon appear in her hand.

For about ten minutes, the pair sat in silence as they ate slowly.

However, it wasn't long until Emma found the silence oppressive and she wasn't really that hungry, so she decided that now would be as good a time as any to ask something that had been on her mind for quite a while.

"Could I ask you something?" she asked, placing the spoon down next to her.

Regina swallowed and, seeing that her wife was done eating, she made the bowl and utensils disappear.

"You can ask me anything, dear," she said even though she felt her throat constrict at the many things that she could possibly ask. So far, the blonde hadn't really asked any direct personal questions, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to lie if she ever did. Plus, if she was to make this relationship work, in the way that Dawn and Hecate seemed to believe it would, the young woman should really be able to know more about her since she basically already knew everything about her.

Emma bit her lip in concentration as she tried to figure out how to articulate what had been on her mind for a while and finally she decided to go with:

"As child, I was very interested in the mythology of the gods and goddesses. Now it seems as though everything I have read has been twisted in some way…"

"History is written by the victors," Regina sighed when she realised just what the younger woman was asking. "The reason that you may have noticed so many differences are because it was up to my siblings to pass onto mortals the information about the divine figures they were worshipping. They decided to vilify me and make themselves appear as the pinnacle of virtue. To them, it simply makes a better story."

Emma frowned as she thought back to the many stories she had read of Zeus and Poseidon. They did usually seem to be presented as the best of the gods, while those like Hades were meant to be intensely feared.

"Is part of that story the name Hades?" Emma asked.

Regina nodded slowly and replied, "I understand that mythology would suggest that it is actually our names, but that isn't exactly how it worked…Once we defeated our mother and reclaimed Olympus, the titles were distributed to ensure that humanity would have all it needs to function. My father told Zelena...Zeus, the roles he believed we was to play…"

"And he believed that you should be assigned to the Underworld?" Emma frowned, she couldn't imagine why any father would do such a thing to their child. She was so obviously unhappy with the lot she had received.

"According to my sister, yes. Our father gave up his immortality to ensure that mother could never raise again. Zelena claimed that she had the right to give bestow the titles because she heard our father's last words…"

The blonde nodded slowly. She couldn't help but see why that version of events would be hidden from mortals. There was no question in her mind that Zeus must have done something to ensure that Regina ended up ruling the Underworld, but that did beg another question.

"You must know that she was lying…" she began, hoping that she wasn't saying something that her wife didn't already know.

Regina looked at the ground and sighed before she replied, "I discovered the truth many centuries later…"

"How?"

"She told me," the brunette admitted, "when I was at my lowest, she told me that father had actually said that I should rule Olympus."

Emma opened her mouth to ask another question, but she couldn't quite think of a way to phrase it.

"I know you're wondering why it is that I am still Hades…" Regina said after a moment of silence, "the answer is simple. In a battle of the gods, I would not win. Hecate would be the only one who would be willing to fight by my side. Zelena would crush any resistance in seconds, which was exactly why she told me the truth. She knew that there was absolutely nothing that I could do…or would want to do…"

"Because of Persephone?"

The goddess took in a deep, calming breath. She had never told anyone so much about how she felt and she never thought that she would have the opportunity to speak with someone who would actually understand or would seemingly know her well enough to know what was bothering her.

"Persephone married Athena. Even if I could somehow claim the mantle of Zeus, I can't see how it would be much different to the way my life is now…"

"Your life doesn't have to revolve around romance…" Emma replied, though there was a slight catch in her voice.

Regina tilted her head for a second, but she just took a deep breath and said, "it may be very possible to live a mortal life happily without romance, but an immortal life is different. For those who haven't lived more than a handful of decades, it is impossible to even fathom the influence that loneliness can have on the soul…"

Emma nodded slowly, she knew that she wouldn't never know what the woman felt. She could understand how it felt to be isolated, but she couldn't imagine remaining so for thousands of years, even if the first twenty-one years of her life felt like an eternity.

"Well…neither of us are lonely now…" the blonde said rather timidly.

Regina shifted uncomfortably where she sat and quickly thought better of mentioning the fact that one of them had an issue of mortality. That was something that she had to try and force herself not to think about whenever she was enjoying being around her wife. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but think back to how fast time seemed to move for her, even when she was completely and utterly bored. She didn't want to get invested in a relationship that was so obviously doomed, but if the week before had proved anything, it was that she was unable to be away from the woman. It was for that reason that she had decided to just enjoy being around her for as long as she could and think about the inevitable later.

"I know," she replied with a small smile when she noticed the younger woman shift closer to her. Both of them had a hand resting on the log and she could practically feel electricity surging across the space between their fingers.

The two of them fell into silence for a few moments.

Emma watched Regina and asked, "you said I could ask you anything?"

The goddess took in a deep breath and exhaled audibly, before she reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring that the thief had tried to steal earlier. She could tell that the blonde had been wondering about it all day since she had kept looking at her pocket.

The blonde stared at the simple golden band with a furrowed brow and asked, "is that Persephone's ring?"

"We were never married," Regina replied, "I never had the chance to give her anything but an engagement ring…"

The princess nodded slowly and continued to stare at the ring, "so who is the ring for?"

Regina bit the inside of her cheek and silently berated herself for doing this now. She had been carrying around the ring for about a month, but every time she thought about giving it to the younger woman. The only reason that she had even brought it with her to Wonderland was because of the bracelet that had been around her wrist since she had been given to her the night before.

"Yesterday you said that you gave me the bracelet because it was the least you could do…when I first brought you to the Underworld, I didn't think for a moment that you would ever enjoy spending time with me, let alone be excited to travel to other realms with me…I believe that it is the least I can do to give you something…"

"A wedding ring?" Emma choked out as she slowly reached forward to take the band.

"We are…married…" Regina replied, sounding less and less sure of herself with each word.

The brunette watched her cautiously as she inspected her gift, her throat constricted and she tried to ascertain how she felt about it. Dawn had been trying to convince her that they should start acting more like they were actually married and she was sure that this was a pretty basic step in doing so.

After the shock passed, a smile spread across Emma's face and she brought her left hand up to place the gift on her finger, "thank you," she breathed, looking up to the other woman in awe.

Regina blew out a breath of relief, but furrowed her brow when she noticed the younger woman had brought up her other hand and had brought her fingers around her ring finger and closed her eyes adorably in concentration.

"What…" the goddess began, but before she could finish her thought the princess opened her eyes and smiled broadly.

"It worked," she almost squealed as she uncurled her fingers to reveal an identical ring to the one she was wearing. When she realised that Regina was looking at her completely dumbfounded, she explained, "I think I've figured out how my magic works…when I went against Phoebus, I managed to do magic because I really, really wanted it to happen…"

"Well, that's…good," Regina replied, still staring at the ring she was holding out, "and you really wanted to replicate your ring?"

Emma nodded and pushed her hand forward, motioning for the older woman to take it, "married people wear matching rings."

Regina's mouth dropped open slightly, but she managed to recognise that Emma had brought up her other hand and was motioning for her to do something.

Blinking a few times, she brought up her own left hand and presented it to the younger woman. A second later, Emma slid the ring onto her finger and they stayed in that position for much longer than necessary.

Finally, Regina realised that they were just staring at one another and she allowed her hand to drop back to the log.

"Thank you," she said, not even bothering to try and hide the massive smile gracing her lips, "I must admit that I certainly wasn't expecting that when I thought about giving you that ring…"

"Well we are married," Emma laughed.

 **A/N I would love to hear what you thought :)**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter twenty-one

Emma swung the blade around experimentally and frowned at it for a moment. Durendal was somehow perfectly weighted and she knew that anyone with even a small amount of skill would be able to land a hit on their opponent and the sword would do the rest for her. However, she didn't like thought of having something that could cause so much pain to others. Somehow it just didn't seem fair.

She continued to swing it as she stared at its dark edges absentmindedly, but she was soon pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching.

Looking over her shoulder, she allowed her arm to fall to her side and she smiled at the approaching brunette.

Regina returned the smile and looked around the clearing.

"I didn't want to wake you," the blonde explained, "and I thought that you didn't really need me to guard you…"

The brunette nodded her agreement and tried to stop herself from smiling at the fact that Emma hadn't actually gone that far from the place they had set up camp. She could hear her swinging her sword when she had opened her eyes, so she knew that the blonde would have been able to hear if anyone had even walked past the sleeping form of her life.

"So you thought that you would pass the time by swinging that blade around?" she asked, going to lean against a tree.

Emma's eyes look down at Durendal and shrugged, "I didn't take the blade with me to the Enchanted Forest and it isn't as if I would have been able to get away with stealing any of the military swords. My parents were on edge as it was…"

"I did wonder why you insisted on bringing it with you to Wonderland," Regina laughed lightly, "though I didn't imagine that it was because you missed it."

The blonde smirked slightly and replied, "I need all of the practice I can get if I'm to enter the tournament…"

Hades quirked her eyebrow and tried hard not to show just how worried that prospect made her, she had honestly hoped that her wife had forgotten about the whole thing. But she also knew that there was no way that she could suddenly tell her that she couldn't do it, she didn't ever want to forbid her from doing anything no matter how much the idea of it made acid raise in her throat.

"And which one of them are you planning to partake in?" Regina asked.

Emma frowned for a moment as she tried to figure out just how long it had been since she had first said she wanted to participate. She was well aware that a lot had happened since she had first wanted to take part but none of it had changed her desire to do so. She couldn't help but feel like she had to do it before she could move onto to her next great adventure.

"I…don't know…"

"The next one is in two weeks," Regina supplied, seeing clearly that the younger woman was having a difficult time trying to discern just how much time had passed. She could completely understand, even though she couldn't really imagine her life without the blonde in it at this point, she knew that they only really had known each other for a couple of months.

Emma blinked a few times and absentmindedly swung the blade once more as her hands tensed around its handle.

"Two weeks?" she repeated.

"You have all of the time in the world, dear, you are under no obligation to compete and you can certainly choose which ever date you wish…" Regina replied.

For a moment, the blonde was tempted to agree with her and suggest that they could spend another few days exploring Wonderland, but then the blade in her hand suddenly felt heavy and she shook her head.

"I have to do it so that Dawn can have Durendal returned to her…" she replied unsurely.

Regina nodded after a moment and said, "I must admit that blade certainly does not suit you."

The pair fell into silence for a few moments before the brunette clicked her fingers and allowed smoke to engulf the air around her until a simple sword appeared in her own hand.

"If you truly wish to get compete as soon as possible, I suppose you should be training. Swinging at the air clearly is of no use to you," the older of the two said as she unhitched herself from the tree.

Emma nodded and quickly shifted her stance as Dawn had taught her to do and she held up Durendal, "I may be out of practice…"

The brunette smiled slightly, she knew there was no way that she would ever be able to see the blonde as threatening considering just how adorable she found her to be, but she was trying hard not to show that on her face. She didn't want her wife to ever think that she was trying to insult her.

"I believe that swordplay isn't your weakness, dear, but neither will it be the weakness of any of your opponents. However, you do have something that the others probably will not…"

Emma inclined her head and looked down at the hand that wasn't holding the sword. She knew that she meant her magic, but she wasn't exactly sure how she could weaponize her abilities.

"I don't know how…" she sighed.

"You have learnt how to control your magic shockingly quickly," Regina replied, resisting the urge to bring her left thumb over to rub over her new ring. She still couldn't quite believe that it was there but she had to admit that she was glad it was. When she had first thought about giving her wife a ring, she didn't think that she would be getting one in return, but feeling the weight of it on her hand made the beginnings of a smile tug at the corner of her lips every time she thought about it. "We have established that you can make something happen if you really want it to, so you will need to be able to do the same in the heat of battle…"

"So…I need to want to hurt someone?" the blonde frowned.

"Not necessarily, you just have to want to protect yourself…self-preservation would be a great motivator for most people."

Emma continued to frown as she thought back to her urge to hurt Phoebus. She could admit that she had thought about how much she could have pushed her blade slightly further. It wouldn't have hurt him, but it would have been pure catharsis for what he had put her through. The feeling of pure fear still haunted her when she was allowed a moment alone to think back to it. But in that circumstance, fighting back would have done nothing so she didn't know how she would react if she was in a situation in which her blade could actually slice through another's flesh.

Regina watched the struggle pass across the other woman's face for a moment and she said, "you do know that you will be physically incapable of causing pain to any person you will be pitted against? The whole occasion is for show; you will be the only combatant who will be capable of death."

Emma took a deep breath and nodded slowly but she still looked unsure, "Dawn was hurt when we were sparring and she is immortal…"

"Pain is bearable when you know that it will definitely end," the brunette replied, "an immortal can feel pain, but after sufficient time has passed, it becomes somewhat insignificant."

The blonde tilted her head and thought about this for a moment, but she was having a hard time imagining such an existence. Logically, an immortal had no reason to be afraid of a sword and most of those who achieved Elysium were probably never afraid of combat.

"So…you're saying that I shouldn't be afraid of attacking another person?"

"Have you ever heard a story of a hero whereby not one person was hurt? There is a difference between the villain whoa actively tries to hurt others and the hero who hurts those who are hurting others," the brunette replied as she held up her blade.

Emma brought up Durendal but neither of them made any attempt to move as the blonde said, "I suppose that makes sense…"

"A hero does not have to take another's life to win the day, but they do have to be willing to do something that will at least temporarily take down their opponent. For someone who is unwilling to deal deadly blows, magic will be the best offensive strategy."

As if to demonstrate, Regina waved her hand and Emma's eyes shot to the glowing purple that was surrounding her right hand. She desperately tried to move Durendal, but it failed. She was sure if anyone else had done this to her, she would be panicking far more, but she knew that Regina had no intention of hurting; plus, she knew that she was just trying to prove a point.

"Of course, restraining your opponent in the tournament would not be taken well by the judges, but the technique would be more than useful in other situations."

Emma's arms fell to her side as she nodded her understanding

"So, we should probably go back to the Underworld to train, right?"

Regina considered this for a moment, before she shook her head and replied, "I believe that are better realms to train in."

The blonde frowned for a moment and asked, "which realm?"

"Camelot."

* * *

-Two days later-

"You need to focus, Emma," Regina sighed as she allowed the blade in her hand to fall to her side. At the same time, she used her other hand to offer to help the other woman up.

The blonde blew out a breath and accepted her wife's hand and she let her pull her from the ground and onto her feet. She had known that training with the ruler of the Underworld wouldn't be a walk in the park, but she was coming to realise that the woman was no longer treating her as a precious, very breakable mortal. Though that was something that she much appreciated, the many bruises that had developed over about 40% of her body wasn't as well received.

"You say that as if I'm not focusing," the blonde huffed as she shifted from foot to foot trying to get the dirt off her pants.

Regina couldn't help but smirk slightly at how adorable the woman looked and didn't even bother trying to berate herself for the thought as she would have in the past.

"This might not be the best method of training," the brunette said once Emma looked satisfied with the cleanliness of her attire.

The princess nodded her agreement as she leaned down to pick up her blade, which Regina had easily managed to knock out of her grip moments earlier. With a deep sigh, she sheathed the weapon at her side.

"What do you suppose a better method would be?" she asked.

Regina frowned for a second as she considered this and she took a moment to look around the forest they were training in. Apart from the occasional strangely coloured mushroom, the forest of Camelot was almost identical to the one they had spent time in Wonderland.

"I believe that the first step would be actually utilising realm we're in…You know full well that I would never hurt you so you have no reason to actually become defensive…"

Emma frowned for a second as she considered her words, "you're saying that I need to be attacked?"

The brunette shrugged but before she could reply her eyes narrowed at the quiet sound of boots hitting the ground behind her.

The blonde noticed instantly that her wife's expression had a changed and she tilted her head questioningly since she hadn't heard a thing.

Instead of replying, the older woman brought up her blade and spun on her heels towards the tree behind her.

"Who's there?" she asked as threateningly as possible.

Emma's eyebrows shot up and her hand went to the hilt of her sword as she waited for a response.

"You've got some good instincts there, love," came from behind one of the trees.

The younger of the two women was about to draw her blade as a bandit stepped out into their sight. However, before she even pulled it an inch out of its sheath, she felt an arm circle her neck and the tip of a dagger being pressed into her back. Swallowing hard, she attempted to move but winced when the dagger sank slightly into her skin.

Regina's eyes shot over her shoulder and she practically growled when she saw the man holding Emma in a headlock. In that moment, she completely forgot about her plan to find a way to get to help the blonde develop some kind of defensive instinct. Instead, all that she could think about was how much she wanted to rip their throats out for daring to touch her.

Turning back to look at the man approaching her, she pursed her lips and said, "perhaps you're not quite as stealthy as you believe you are."

The man laughed loudly while his partner joined in and as he tightened his grip around the blonde.

"Give us all of your valuables or she dies," the bandit in front of Regina glowered, clearly sure that there was no way these two women would be able to get away.

"Tell him to let her go before I free your head from your body," she said while raising her hand. She was about to ignite a fireball that she imagined would be thrown at his face with no hesitation if he didn't motion for his partner to release her wife.

However, before the inferno formed above her palm, the two bandits spontaneously fell to the ground at the same time.

Regina blinked at the unconscious man for a few moments before she spun back around to face her wife with widened eyes.

Emma was looking down at her assailant with a confused frown. She was about to look over to Regina to ask if she had done that but her attention was caught by a man looking very concerned over by the opposite trees.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he walked over to Emma and Regina.

The older of the two women narrowed her eyes at him and wondered why it was that he looked so familiar.

Emma inspected the man for a moment. She didn't feel the same kind of familiarity that Regina did, but she did feel as though she should know who he was. He just had this kind of air of importance about him.

"We're okay," the blonde finally replied, "and I suppose we should be thanking you?"

The man smiled slightly at the princess's clear confusion. He could understand that she didn't know exactly what had happened considering the position she had been in.

Bowing his head briefly, he said, "there is no need for any thanks. I would hardly be able to live with myself if I had just kept walking when I knew I had the ability to help."

Regina clenched her jaw at his words. She knew that she was being rather childish in that moment, but part of her wished that she had been the one to save Emma.

"And who exactly are we thanking?" she asked.

The man tilted his head at her hostility, wondering what he had done wrong for a moment. However, he quickly pushed past this and replied with a bowed head, "Merlin at your service, Hades."

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed :)**

 **Just a warning, I might have to put this fic on hiatus since I have literally no inspiration...if anyone has ideas I might not have to so please feel free to review or pm :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N So I think I have actual ideas for this fic XD haha hopefully no hiatus...but I am going back to uni soon so I can't guarantee fast updates (my grades actually count this year lol) anyway I hope you enjoy XD**

 **Also could you please vote in the poll up on my profile? (it might take some time to change from the Rumple poll I did months ago, but hopefully not too long haha). There's more details about it at the bottom, but it would really help with faster updates haha**

Chapter twenty-two

"Merlin," Emma repeated with wide eyes.

The man tilted his head questioningly and Regina rolled her eyes deeply.

"Have we met?" he asked.

"Err…" the blonde looked over to her shoulder to her wife pleadingly for an explanation.

The brunette stopped herself from rolling her eyes again and decided that it would be better if the man didn't know that he was a fictional character in another realm of existence. But then she remembered that he had just referred to her title, so perhaps he knew more than most did.

"I think that the better question is how do you know who I am?" Regina asked as she stepped forward to take the magicians attention away from Emma.

Merlin smiled at the immortal and bowed his head slightly, "I have studied ancient mythologies for many years and your energy is difficult to mistake."

The brunette woman narrowed her eyes at him and replied, "it would take quite a number of years to acquire such skills, are you sure that you're using your immortality to its maximum effect?"

"Are you suggesting that knowledge is not an worthy pursuit?" the magician asked with a tilted head.

"Certainly not, but I am suggesting that perhaps it was a slight waste of time to study the beliefs of another realm so intently. I have never met a person outside of the Enchanted Forest who believes Hades to be anything more than a myth."

Emma watched the exchange intently and at her wife's words, her eyebrows shot up. She had never considered the fact that the gods and goddess's of her realm were not shared with others. But then she realised that it had most likely never occurred to her considering that she had the kind of undeniable proof in her religion that she doubted most others were ever given the opportunity to have.

"I would argue that it was an excellent use of time since," Merlin laughed lightly, "it would be foolish to believe that Camelot is the only realm in existence, it was only natural that I would become curious. It's a good thing I did, so that you could get the welcome to this realm that you deserve…"

Regina looked down distastefully at the downed bandits and tried to stop her jealousy from flaring. Though she was sure that she would never admit it to anyone, she didn't like the fact that she hadn't been the one to take down the pair who had dared to threaten her wife.

"And what exactly were you doing randomly wandering the woods?" Hades asked when she finally forced herself to look back up at him.

The man opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, he was interrupted by the rather loud sound of metal scraping against metal as a fully-armoured man appeared at the treeline.

Regina cautiously moved so that she was standing more fully in front of Emma, but the princess leaned to the side so that she could see. She had a feeling that she knew exactly who the brunette man was and she could barely contain her excitement at the thought.

"What are you doing, Merlin?" he asked while he strode over to the magician with an exasperated expression upon his face.

Merlin turned around and offered the man a charming smile, but he just scowled further at the immortal.

"Forgive me, prince Arthur," Merlin said as he bowed his head, "I was assisting these two women in their time of need."

"We didn't require your assistance," Regina deadpanned and Arthur looked over to her with an expression mixed between shock and amusement. He had no idea who either of the women were, but he could already tell that he liked the outspoken brunette.

The prince's eyes travelled down to the bandits and then he looked back up at Regina with a smirk, "you didn't require assistance?"

Regina was about to open her mouth to retort, but Merlin cut her off as he said, "your majesty, I believe that it would be in your best interest to not antagonise this woman."

"And why would that be?"

The goddess's finger twitched and she considered just outright showing him why he should be afraid of her, but she quickly thought better of it. If she decided not to kill the Knave of Hearts, then there was no way that she could very well justify killing Arthur before he even ascended to the rank of king, even if he was pissing her off. But that was probably because she was no longer alone with Emma, which she was quickly coming to realise was her preferred state of being.

"I would take his word for it, prince," she sneered.

The prince continued to stare at her for a moment longer, but his face soon split into a wide grin and he decided that he definitely liked her.

"Certainly, my lady," he replied, bowing his head slightly out of a kind of mock respect. "I would hate to disrespect one with such an attractive visage."

Merlin shot the goddess an apologetic look, silently asking the immortal woman to not incinerate the prince where he stood and the magician relaxed marginally when Regina just shrugged.

Arthur watched her for a moment, before he said, "forgive my rudeness, will you allow Merlin and I to escort the two of you back to our camp. We can provide you with a meal and some further protection from the toils of Camelot."

Regina's jaw twitched and she thought about simply sending the man away with some hurtful remark, but she internally sighed and decided against it. She could practically feel the blonde behind her vibrating in excitement at meeting the knights of Camelot. She just hoped that they hadn't arrived before Arthur had met any of them.

The brunette resolved to just push aside how irritating she found the prince to be and replied, "we would be much obliged…your majesty."

Arthur motioned for each of them to follow him and Emma couldn't help but smile at how irritated her wife looked. She was really beginning to like the fact that Regina would do anything to make her happy.

* * *

Graham smiled down at the book in his hand and allowed himself to lean back in the most comfortable chair in the library. It wasn't too often that he was afforded the chance to be completely calm. Regina only usually left the Underworld for short periods of time, which had gotten ever shorter as the centuries had dragged on.

It had been three blissful days in which he didn't have to deal with the curious princess or the frustrated goddess. He found being alone oddly comforting, but there was a part of him that knew that this wasn't something that he couldn't keep up forever. As much as he loved a chance to not be afraid, he did kind of wish that there was someone here with him. Even if he had spent most of their time together in constant worry and terror, he had to admit that he liked having Emma around. She was the first time that he had something resembling friendship in his very long immortal life.

As that thought occurred to him, his smile fell slightly and he closed the fifth book he had read since his mistress and her wife had gone on their little adventure.

He was about to get up to go and collect another from the shelf while he also told himself that the loneliness wasn't making him lonely. This was something that he had wished to have for a long time, never considering that he would be missing have people around him.

"Mother?"

Graham's eyes widened comically at the unexpected voice, but he quickly relaxed when his mind registered just who it was.

A moment later, Dawn appeared from around one of the bookcases and she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"You look awfully relaxed," she said with a tilted head while she leaned against the shelf beside her. "I assume that my mother is not here."

"She took Emma to Wonderland," he replied, "they left a few days ago so I can only assume that they have also decided to travel to other realms."

Dawn nodded and smiled slightly at the news. Even if she had come here because she had wanted to talk with her mother, she knew that this was exactly the kind of thing that she had wanted the ruler of the Underworld to do. A few months ago, Regina would have never devoted her time to helping a mortal explore realms so that they could satisfy their child-like need for adventure. And there was the fact that there was far more opportunity for romance in other planes of existence.

"Did you need her for something?" Graham asked as she shifted into a far less comfortable position.

"Yeah…but it can wait…"

Graham nodded and considered just falling into silence until Dawn eventually excused herself, but in that moment, it was only confirmed for him that he was in fact missing human interaction during his time alone.

"I…I could help you if you would like," he offered.

Dawn frowned for a moment and wondered whether Graham had ever tried to continue a conversation in his life. She considered that she could just say that she would wait to speak with her mother, but she also knew that this was something that was going to continue to annoy her if she didn't get it out to someone. Plus, there was a chance that her mother's immortal personal servant would understand.

"You want to hear about my problems?" she asked sceptically with one raised eyebrow.

Panic swallowed hard when the expression reminded him of Regina, but he told himself that he was talking to Dawn and quickly moved past it. He knew that he was far less terrified by the demi-god then he was with most people and it did certainly help now that she no longer had that sword of hers.

"I could try and offer some advice…I don't know when Regina and Emma will return, so you could just ask me in the interest of saving your time."

Dawn nodded slowly and crossed her arms over her chest. She knew that she should logically say yes, but there was something that she had never told anyone and she found it rather embarrassing. Despite his constant worry and anxiety, she had found Graham to be attractive when she was a teen. It was rather awkward to discuss what was on her mind with her first crush, but she decided that she could just try. It wasn't as if she was evenly remotely attracted to him after she had left the Underworld for the first time. Especially since she had met Devin.

"Devin always seems to just go along with whatever excuses I offer to him. He never questioned my extended bouts of absence whenever I visited my mother. We have been together for almost two years and he has never questioned where I originate from or has asked to meet my family…"

Graham nodded his understanding and sat up slightly so that she would know that he truly wanted to help her. He strangely found that he wasn't really afraid in that moment and stranger still, he felt like he actually knew how he could help.

"Considering that you have never brought up any of these details of your own accord, perhaps he believes that it could be a sensitive subject?" he asked, "he could very well just be waiting for you to tell you himself."

"That is exactly the issue. He has been so patient and I appreciate it, but the longer I wait to tell him the truth, the harder it's going to be…" she sighed, staring adamantly down at the ground. She hated being this vulnerable with another person, with her mother as the only exception, but she found that she didn't have the urge to try and run away as she normally would if she had tried to do this with another person.

"Why would it be difficult? Shouldn't it be a relief to tell him the truth?" Graham asked with a tilted head.

"I know how he is going to react. He will be completely understanding after being shocked for some time and then we will be able to continue our relationship with no great secrets…"

"It doesn't sound like there is any issue, Dawn."

The brunette woman swallowed hard and forced her eyes to come up to look at the man who was frowning slightly with pinched eyebrows. He had clearly thought that he knew what the problem was, but, despite all of his years of life, he didn't have that much experience dealing with women.

"Because everything will be perfect for a while, but then we will have to face the inevitable. Devin will continue to grow old while I will always look like this. There will come a point whereby he will have to end our relationship to maintain his royal status quo. And even if that doesn't happen there will still be so many other issues that just wouldn't be fair to him. He will either grow old with a person who will always be twenty or he will try and valiantly find a way to become immortal himself and there is no guarantee that we should be together for eternity!"

Dawn took a deep breath as she finished her little rant and she stared the shocked man for a moment before she shook her head slightly to tell him that she needed him to respond.

"Have you been thinking about this for long?" he finally managed to say after a few more moments of silence.

"Probably not as long as I should have been," she sighed.

Graham nodded his understanding and offered her a supportive smile, before he replied, "you have yet to fully experience the toils of immortality and I believe that your mother was waiting for you to realise just what the implications mean. Right now it may seem as though Devin is the most important thing in your life but that may not be so in a few hundred years. You will always know him as your first love, but can you imagine wanting to be with him for the rest of time?"

"I…I don't know…" the brunette sighed and ran her hand over her face. She didn't know what she had wanted her mother to say to her worries, but it now occurred to her that Regina wouldn't have really been able to be objective about it. She was in the same situation with her very mortal wife and she had lived long enough to actually be aware of the fact that it was one of the obstacles to their relationship.

"You still have many years until he will even begin to notice that there is anything to question and as you said he isn't really inclined to ask you until you're ready…" Graham replied, "there's no reason to worry about this now. You will need to discover whether you could live without him happily, so perhaps you should find an excuse as to why you cannot visit him for some time and it will give you the chance to find out how you really feel…"

"Are you suggesting that I should stay in the Underworld? Would that not ruin your little bubble of serenity?" Dawn smirked.

Graham smiled at her for a second before he shook his head and replied, "I believe that being alone may not be the best for my nerves. Having someone else with me diminishes my chances of being horribly maimed by an intruder."

Dawn snorted and unhitched herself from the bookcase, "because there are so many intruders to the realm of the dead."

"I still feel…better with someone else around…"

"Is this your way of telling me that you're bored?" the brunette laughed.

Graham sighed and nodded. Reading for a few days had certainly been enjoyable, but there were times when he found that there was just nothing to do. He was so used to being summoned to assist Regina with something or being there to help Emma in whatever she wanted to experience that day, that it was actually boring to have no one around. He still had times of the day when he could be alone so that he could decompress when there were people around, especially since Regina had taken the princess as a wife. He was actually starting to realise that he couldn't really spend his immortal life hiding away from all of the things that frightened him. There were only so many books that he could read.

"I suppose you could say that," he replied with a slight blush on his cheeks, "I believe that we could both benefit from some company…at least until you discover your true feelings towards Devin…"

Dawn felt her throat go dry at his suggestion and she tried to remember whether she had actually spent time with him alone. But then she tried to convince herself that she had gotten over her crush long ago and she nodded.

"I'll go and tell Devin that I have business that I must attend and you won't have to worry about your imaginary intruders until mother returns," she laughed before she disappeared in a wave of smoke.

Graham smiled at her and when he was left alone, he fell back against his chair as he blinked a few times.

He quickly shook his head though and made to pick up his book. He didn't even want to entertain the idea that he could possibly have feelings for Hades' daughter. It just wasn't worth the fireball.

 **A/N Sorry that the SQ scene was so much shorter than the next scene, but this was the only way that I could get past my block haha I hope you liked it and i would love to hear what you thought XD**

 **Also, I've noticed that a lot of reviewers don't seem too excited about the tournament, so what would you guys think of me kind of skipping to after it? or do you want it to actually be part of the story? I don't want to write something that you guys don't want to read so please let me know...I'll put a poll on my profile so I can get an accurate answer :)**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter twenty-three

Emma frowned down at the food that had been presented to them. When Arthur had offered for them to join his party, she didn't think that would mean that they would be led towards the castle.

Apparently, they had only been out in the forest because the prince had grown bored of staying in the palace and so he decided to take a party of men for an impromptu hunting session. However, instead of meat, Arthur seemed quite content with returning with two 'lovely companions' to join dinner. Emma had been more than surprised when they had been taken to the dining room, but Regina didn't seem at all shocked. It seemed as though this was normal princely behaviour, but it wasn't really a side of great king of Camelot that she had read so much about.

The king had only rolled his eyes when they had entered the dining room with his son and Emma could only assume that this was something that happened often. Subconsciously, she brought her thumb over the wedding band on her left finger and wondered how the prince would react when he finally noticed them. It appeared as though his father already had, since he had smirked at the sight a moment after they had sat down.

"He isn't quite the King Arthur that I've read about…" the blonde whispered to the brunette sat next to her.

Regina looked at the young man talking rather loudly about his accomplishments to the Merlin, which was obviously not for the wizard's benefit. In fact, Merlin looked rather exasperated with having to hear everything once again, especially since he knew that Arthur had no chance with either of the women he had invited to dinner.

"When travelling to another realm, I can travel to any point in time and I usually try and arrive at a point when there is no major conflict…the exception is the Enchanted Forest, of course…"

Emma frowned. She knew that she should probably start to take her magic lessons far more seriously because none of that made any sense.

"What do you mean?" he whispered, with a quick glance around to make sure that no one was listening to their rather conspicuous conversation. But it appeared as though everyone else in attendance was far too consumed by Arthur's tale of slaying a boar that he had hunted for days.

"Time between the realms of the gods and the Enchanted Forest is directly linked, so when an hour passes in the Underworld, the same amount of time passes in the Enchanted Forest. It's the reason that the people of that realm believe in us so fiercely, we're far less removed from events than we would be in other realms…"

"So you can travel to any point of time in any other realm?" the blonde said slowly. She supposed that made sense, but she did resolve to actually start reading more about magic rather than continuing with the same fictional books that she had read so many times over her years.

"Yes, but if I was to change something, then the very story of that realm would be changed. For example, if I somehow killed Merlin by accident, he would not be around to be a guardian to Arthur and there is a chance that someone else would become king. There's just no telling what that would to do the happy endings to the people who live here. He may be an insufferable womaniser at this stage of his life, but over time, he will become the noble knight whom many have admired over the years…"

"So it's dangerous to travel to other realms?" Emma frowned.

"There is some level of risk," Regina granted, "but as long as we don't make any major changes, time usually has a way of making destiny happen."

Emma let out a small sigh of relief. As long as no one died as a result of their visit, which was something that she was pretty sure she could manage, it appeared as though that nothing would come of their little adventure. Even if she was a little disappointed that she couldn't be directly involved in her favourite stories, she never even thought that she would be able to leave the White Palace, so it wasn't exactly as though she could complain.

Emma blinked a few times when she realised that silence had fallen over the table and she looked around to see that everyone was looking at her and Regina.

"Sorry?" she asked, after audibly swallowing the bite of food in her mouth.

The king smiled at her, he clearly wasn't too surprised that she had zoned out of his son's bragging and he repeated himself:

"I was just apologising for Arthur's lack of manners," he said, "it would appear that he just realised that he does not know either of your names."

The blonde returned his smile when she noticed a somewhat petulant expression pass over the prince's face and Regina smirked at the smile on her wife's face.

After a moment, the brunette bowed her head slightly, since she decided that it would be best to be respectful while in the presence of the royal family of Camelot.

"We were honoured that the prince would even consider inviting the two of us to dinner."

"Even so, he could have asked your names," the king laughed lightly, "would you allow me to rectify his folly?"

"My name is Regina and this is Emma White," Regina said.

"King Uther Pendragon," he replied with a slight bow of his head, before he added, "it is a pleasure to meet both of you, though I must admit that the name White doesn't somehow suit you, Regina."

Arthur frowned at his father, before he turned to inspect the ladies more closely. Instantly, his eyes fell to the matching wedding rings and he sighed he closed his eyes in frustration.

Emma looked over to Regina in amusement as the woman thought this through for a moment, but there was obviously no other option to just go with it.

"It isn't my maiden name," Regina replied slowly, as she silently prayed that the king wouldn't ask exactly what her maiden name was. Especially considering that she had been alive longer than the concept of a surname.

"Have the two of you been married long?" Arthur inquired. The initial shock seemed to have worn off. Even if he had no chance with either of them, he knew that he would still have to continue being polite to them, or he would risk another of his father's lectures.

"A few months," Emma replied, just about having gotten over the fact that Regina had just suggested that her name was Regina White.

"And yet you choose to spend your time in a forest?" Arthur asked as he allowed his eyes to drift to their clothing. They hardly appeared to be of low social standing, so he found it hard to believe that they would choose to spend their honeymoon period in the middle of the forest.

"We were simply passing the time practicing our sword skills," Regina answered.

Uther frowned and raised his eyebrows at the same time.

Regina tried not to sigh, even if she wished that she was still in the forest alone with her wife.

Emma smiled slightly at her exasperation and decided that she could be the one to offer and explanation.

"Before our marriage I led a rather sheltered life, so I asked Regina to show me more of what Camelot had to offer…"

"And you chose to spend your time in the forest?" Arthur laughed. "it is indeed fortunate that we met."

"And why would that be?" Regina asked as her hand twitched under the table. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had allowed herself to fireball someone and she was actually beginning to miss it.

"If it lessons in swordplay that you seek, then who better than the knights of Camelot to provide them?"

Emma's eyebrows shot up at the suggestion and she quickly looked over to Regina with excitement consuming all of her features. The brunette was tempted to say that they could handle it without their help, but she once again knew that she wouldn't want to take the opportunity away from the younger woman. Plus, there was the fact that their training wasn't particularly going too well. It would probably be helpful to have someone who didn't care deeply about her to be the one to give her at least some lessons. And she did suppose that Arthur needed to find a reason for inviting them to dinner since he discovered that he no longer had a chance at bedding either of them. The young man probably wanted to appear a good Samaritan in front of his father.

'We would be honoured at the opportunity," the goddess said as she resisted the urge to grit her teeth. It appeared as though they would be spending far more time in this realm than she had originally planned, she never thought that they would come across anyone important.

Uther looked between them and tried not to smirk. He knew exactly what his son was doing but he did like the two women so he had absolutely no issues with allowing the younger of the two to train with his knights. During these times of peace, he was sure that they could use the distraction from their boredom.

"It may be far past the appropriate time for training now," the king said, "but please allow me to extend the offer of one of our bed chambers for the night."

Emma frowned for a moment as she considered the offer. It seemed rather irresponsible to allow two complete strangers to sleep in the palace but then she noticed just how many guards were posted in the dining room alone. She couldn't imagine that it would be easy to try and cause harm to the royal family even if you were given the opportunity to sleep in the palace. And it wasn't as if she wanted to say 'no' to the offer anyway.

"Thank you," the blonde said with a bow of her head while she tried to keep the smile off her face. Regina frowned at her, the younger woman looked as though she was vibrating with excitement and she was sure that there was something she was missing.

''I will arrange for the bed chamber to be prepared as soon as possible," Uther replied.

The colour drained from the brunette's face when something finally occurred to her. One bed chamber meant one bed.

* * *

"Dawn has left again? Do you have any idea where she has gone?" Killian asked with his arms crossed over his chest. The older brother was leaning against the wall watching Devin as he packed some clothes into a trunk. He had told him that he could have gotten a servant to do this for him, but the younger prince had decided that this would be something that would help to get his mind off of what was happening with his relationship.

"She said that she had something important to do at home," Devin huffed without looking up at his brother. He knew that there was no way that he would have been able to get his thoughts away from Dawn, especially when his nosey brother was still here. He was sure that Killian didn't have to come back to this kingdom but he did have a sneaking suspicion that it had nothing to do with companying him home and more to do with the possibility that Princess Emma might have come home spontaneously.

"Home?" Killian asked with a single raised eyebrow.

Devin sighed deeply and finally looked up at him, "you know that she's never told me where she is from exactly."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"I don't really feel like talking about this Killian. She has secrets and she'll tell me eventually…"

"And if she doesn't tell you?"

Devin just shook his head and looked down at his lap. He knew that if she never told her what she was hiding from him, then there was no way that they would ever be able to take their relationship any further but it wasn't as though they had to think about marriage right now. Killian was next in line for the throne so their parents were far more focused on him getting married then Devin, so at least he would have some time to figure everything out.

"So you're going with denial rather than addressing the issue?"

The younger prince just shrugged and Killian frowned at him. The younger man appeared to be acting petulantly about the subject but he didn't look particularly bothered by it. Devin didn't appear to be too concerned about the fact that his relationship with Dawn would probably be coming to an end. In fact, he had been surprised that it had lasted so long considering how long they had been growing apart. He was sure that if he was ever with someone for more than a year, then he probably wouldn't want to live knowing that they were hiding something from him. Devin should care more and Dawn should want to tell him if she loved him.

Devin was about to open his mouth to reply (though he had nothing to actually say in his defence) but he was cut short by the sound of his chamber door opening. The younger prince frowned and looked up at the door, he was sure that they hadn't been expecting anyone and it wasn't even close to a dining time so he was pretty confident that it couldn't be a servant requesting their presence.

A moment later, a brunette woman appeared at the threshold holding a tome in her hands. She appeared to be completely engrossed by its contents but she still somehow detected the fact that the room wasn't as empty as she had expected it to be.

"Err…sorry…" she began but Killian quickly held out his hand and shook his head.

"It's okay," he said charmingly and Devin couldn't help but roll his eyes. He was pretty sure that he had seen this woman around the palace but he had no idea who she was. She didn't appear to be royalty and yet she was not treated as a servant; however, it wasn't as though it was his position to enquire about such things.

Lily cleared her throat and tried to stop the blush creeping up her neck and onto her cheeks and she offered an explanation, "I must have been so absorbed by my reading that I opened the chamber next to mine...please forgive the mistake."

Killian pushed himself off the wall and smiled at her, "there's no need to apologise, if not for the simple mistake, I would have been unable to lay eyes upon your beautiful complexion. It's truly a pleasure to meet you…"

Devin shook his head and scoffed, it was truly impressive that his older brother seemed capable of finding a woman to charm no matter where he was but he sincerely hoped that this girl would be different from all the others by refusing to fall for his game.

Lily frowned and looked at the younger prince. She knew exactly who he and Killian were but she had never thought that she would have the opportunity to talk to either of them. In fact, she was still getting used to once again being surrounded by royalty, especially since this time she wasn't just the daughter of one of the servants. She was an honourable guest of the princess and the king and queen were expected to provide her with whatever she needed in order to ensure that they didn't run the risk of damaging their already cracked relationship with Emma. It was a strange feeling, she had complete access to all of the records within the palace and she had the ability to request any more that she required, but she still had yet to find any leads as to who her birth mother could possibly be.

"My name is Lily…Lily Page," she quickly replied when she realised that the prince was looking at her expectantly. At the same time, she also took a hesitant step over the threshold so that the door could shut behind her. She was now officially alone with the two princes and she was completely shocked that neither of them had yet said that she should leave them to their business.

"Killian and Devin Jones," the older brother replied with a bow of his head as he tried to hide the smile that had taken over his face the moment he had seen her face. He was sure that he would have noticed this woman before if he had seen her and for the first time since the ball, he wasn't in the midst of wondering just why Emma hadn't stayed for him. It wasn't as if he was in love with the blonde princess but he did take pride in his ability to have any beautiful woman he wished to have. He didn't want to admit it but the fact that she hadn't tried to seek him out after the party kind of bruised his ego.

Devin just rolled his eyes and rose to his feet, "please forgive my quick departure but I believe that I left one of my books in the library."

Lily just nodded and Killian smiled broadly at his baby brother for knowing that he wanted to be left alone with this woman.

However, his smile quickly dropped when Devin added, "and it appears that you have quite the tome to read."

The brunette woman's eyes were drawn down to the leather book in her hands that she had somehow forgotten about. It was just the records of births and deaths from the year she had been born in the White Kingdom but she had yet to actually find her own name in it even though her mother had told her that she had definitely been born in this kingdom. In fact, it was one of the reasons that she had decided to continue living here rather than once again attempting to go to her grandparents.

Devin quickly left the room before his brother could admonish him for reminding Lily that she actually had a lot of reading to do, which would mean that it would be a bad idea to waste her time talking with a prince.

Killian followed his brother with his eyes, all of the time shooting daggers his way, but the moment he disappeared over the threshold he turned his expression back to the charming smile that he had used on so many women before.

Lily returned the smile and shifted from foot to foot rather awkwardly before she lifted up the book as she replied, "your brother is right…I should probably go…to my own chamber…"

The prince resisted the urge to sigh heavily. He certainly wanted her to stay but, for the first time in his life, he had no idea what he could say to her. At least when he spoke to princesses, with perhaps the exception of Emma White, he knew exactly what he could say so that he could get them to fall for him instantly. Even though he knew that Lily was not a mere servant, he could tell by her demeanour and the way that she spoke that she could not be any kind of royalty. Nonetheless, however, he still found himself unbelievably attracted to her despite the fact that he had no idea how to interact with her.

"Plus…I should probably leave you your packing…" she added after she felt that the silence had passed on for far too long.

Killian flushed slightly when he realised that he probably hadn't said anything in over thirty seconds and he quickly replied, "it is my brother who is packing…"

"Oh…so you're not leaving?"

The man swallowed hard. He considered that he could just tell her the truth that he was only here to 'pick up his brother', which of course would only be half of the truth. He most certainly didn't want to tell her that he had made the half a day journey on the off chance that princess Emma would be here.

"I…I have always been quite taken with the beauty of this kingdom and Queen Snow and King David would have no objection to my request to stay…"

"In an effort to woo their daughter?" Lily asked, trying to keep the slight disappointment out of her voice as the thought occurred to her.

"I…" Killian's throat constricted slightly while he shook his head, but finally he just asked, "what?"

"Emma told me what you said at the ball…I just assumed that you were not impressed that she never attempted to interact with you again. I would imagine that most women you are attracted to reciprocate your feelings without much need for effort on your part…"

The prince frowned and tilted his head. She was certainly correct and it had bothered him more than he would care to admit that he hadn't gotten so much as an 'hello' from the princess since the ball. She always seemed so preoccupied in the days before he had returned to his kingdom and now she had set out on her own 'adventure' which obviously meant that he didn't leave as big an impression on her as he did on other women. Normally, that would only make him want her more but in that moment, he had basically forgotten about her altogether.

"Emma told you?" he asked.

"Yes…we're friends… is that seriously the only thing that you got from that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Killian quickly shook his head; he was suddenly aware that they were still standing across the room from each other. He had the urge to walk over to her but something stopped him. He had never been nervous in his life but he was sure that this must be what it felt like.

"I was just thinking that there couldn't be many reasons for me having not having had noticed you before you quite literally barged in."

Lily bit the inside of her cheek and looked down at the ground in the hopes that he wouldn't notice her blush.

"I…"

The prince held up his hand and said, "you don't need to apologise again, it was a very happy accident."

The brunette of the pair smiled rather goofily (another expression that she tried to hide) and she took a step back.

"As I said, I have quite a lot to read so I should really be going, Prince..."

"Please call me Killian," he quickly said before she went to open to door.

Lily's fingers grasped the door knob and took a moment to let out a breath. It wasn't too long ago that she would have never have dreamed of seeing Emma again, let alone that she would have been allowed to once again live in the palace, this time as an honoured guest. And now she was pretty sure that a visiting, and very hot, prince was hitting on her.

"Okay…goodbye, Killian," she said over her shoulder, finally allowing herself to smile at him.

"I shall hopefully see you soon, Lily," he replied as he bowed his head.

 **A/N Reviews are a great motivator ;)**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter twenty-four

Dawn took a deep breath with her eyes closed and pulled the string bag of her bow back.

She wasn't quite sure why it was but she found that practicing archery was one of the few things that would calm her down. It was easier to relax when all she had to focus on was getting the arrow to hit the centre of the target. She didn't have to worry about losing her cool with her opponent like she did with swordplay and she definitely didn't have to think about Devin.

As terrible as it sounded, she sometimes felt like she needed to pretend that she wasn't in a relationship, even for a few minutes. It usually only happened after they had an argument, which was usually because of the fact that he didn't know much about her past or the fact that he had never met her parents. She could tell that it was increasingly annoying the prince, since he was getting close to the age when he would be expected to at least become engaged. She was sure that his parents were convinced that they would end up together since it wasn't exactly usual for a prince to date for two years. To most people, they were the perfect couple, but those same people didn't know that dawn was in the first relationship of her very long life. She couldn't quite believe how long it had taken her to realise exactly what immortality meant. When she had competed in the tournament it was only because she wanted to give her mother a reason to stop worrying about her every time she visited the Enchanted Forest. To be honest, she was sure that she still didn't quite grasp precisely what it meant to live forever since she was technically still younger than her twenty-one-year-old step-mother.

As she focused on her breathing in that moment, however, none of this was on her mind. She was about to loose the arrow but her action was interrupted by the sound of scuffing behind her.

Without much thought, she twirled on her heels and her eyes flew open. Her fingers were about to move to release the projectile, however, her mind caught up just about fast enough for her to stop the oncoming assault.

With a heavy sigh, Dawn dropped her arms so that the bow was by her side and she raised her eyebrows at the cowering Graham.

"Why would you sneak up on me?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.

The man looked up from under his arms, that were crossed over his eyes, and he gulped in relief at seeing that she had put the weapon down.

"I…I don't…" he stuttered.

Dawn smiled fondly at the man. She was sure that he had come out of the palace to ask her to join him for dinner as she had the day before but she could see how almost having an arrow shot at his face would make him forget his intention.

"Graham," she laughed, moving to place the bow around her shoulder while putting the arrow back in the quiver at the same time.

The sound of his name seemed to bring the man out of his fit of fear and he smiled gratefully, "sorry," he said with a sheepish grin, "I didn't know you was out here training…"

The brunette woman smiled at him and started to walk in his direction until she was leaning against the pillar that he was near.

"I wouldn't exactly call it training…" Graham frowned at her response, but before he could question it, she asked, "were you by chance looking for me to invite me for dinner?"

"Yes…I believe that it's almost prepared and I assumed that you would be hungry by now…"

"I'll meet you in the dining room after I've put away my bow," she replied without hesitation as she pushed herself from the pillar, "I am starving."

Before Graham could say anything in response, the demi-goddess had already started walking away and he simply watched her for a moment.

He knew that it had only been a couple of days since she had decided to stay in the Underworld in the absence of her mother but he was finding it strange how calm he had been. Usually, he found he was very nervous around the somewhat combat-happy woman, but she had been quite relaxed, at least in his presence. Even so, he could tell that the Devin situation was bothering her more than she was willing to admit.

With a deep breath, he made his way to the dining room and stood awkwardly for a moment while the servants bustled around him to place the meal on the table, though none of them looked nearly as worried as they did when it was Regina they were serving.

The man looked around the room for a moment longer and before he could stop himself, he found himself being drawn over to the mirror on the opposite wall. Without much conscious thought, he started straightening the collar of his shirt and running his hand through his hair to make sure that it was parted correctly.

"What are you doing?"

Graham's widened and he stumbled away from the mirror, not-so-gracefully falling into the back of one of the chairs in the process. He brought his hand up to place it over his fast beating heart as he took deep breaths.

"What the hell, Sidney?" he managed to get out as he stared with contempt at the image of the man that had appeared in the mirror with zero warning.

"You didn't answer my question," he smirked heavily.

Graham narrowed his eyes at Sidney and pushed himself back up so that he was fully on his feet once again, "I was looking in the mirror, under the impression that I had some privacy."

"You mean that you were checking your appearance in preparation for your dinner with Dawn…have you considered which appendage Regina will want to cut off when she discovers that you have been courting Dawn in her absence?"  
The brunette man cringed at the thought, especially since he had imagined what would happen the moment the thought that what he felt towards Dawn could actually be a crush.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he squeaked which caused the man in the mirror to laugh openly.

Graham opened his mouth to tell him to shut up, but he was cut short when the surface of the glass suddenly went back to normal.

"You're very pretty, Graham, but I never took you for the vain type," he heard someone tease behind him.

Instantly, blush started creeping up his neck and up to his cheeks and took a couple of moments to will the crimson away, however ineffectively, before he turned on his heels and offered Dawn a half grin.

"I thought there was something on my face," he lied, quickly moving around the table to pull the chair out.

Dawn looked at him sceptically, but she still smiled at him and said "thank you" as she slipped into the offered chair.

Graham moved back around so that he was sitting opposite her and he sat down.

The pair of them fell into a kind of comfortable silence as the servants moved to pour them each some wine and they each started their soup.

They continued like this for about fifteen minutes until the servants replaced the starter with their main course.

Graham took a moment to inspect the roasted chicken, but he found that there was something bothering him more than his hunger in that moment. He was sure that this would usually be one of the things that he would choose to remain silent about, but he was sure that allowing his to bother him would make him more anxious than the prospect of finding the courage to ask his question.

"What did you mean when you said that you wouldn't call it training?"

Dawn frowned and looked up from her plate, "what do you mean?"

"Outside…you were practicing archery…"

The woman sighed and replied, "I was just taking some time to stop thinking…"

Graham considered dropping the subject once he saw just how uncomfortable she looked, but he knew that the reason she was here was to sort out her emotions so he figured that he should keep the conversation going.

"What did you want to stop thinking about?"

"…immortality…and…how much I really understand it…"

Graham sat stunned for a moment but he quickly realised that it made complete sense that she would have this kind of dilemma. For the first eighteen years of her life, she lived under the assumption that her time was limited, so he couldn't imagine what it was like for her to suddenly have to deal with living in a world whereby everyone else's time was limited.

"Is there anything that I can do to help you understand?" he asked after a moment of consideration.

Dawn frowned for a second, "well…you are immortal…"

"You…want advice?"

The brunette shrugged and Graham furrowed his brow in thought.

"I'm not sure that I would be the best person to offer advice…I've spent my entire existence in the Underworld…"

"That can't be true," Dawn replied in disbelief.

"When the Underworld was created I was also created…your mother offered me the chance to leave but as you can imagine…I was not exactly in any position to…leave…"

"My mother offered you freedom and you were too afraid to take it?" Dawn asked with widened eyes, "but you're almost as old as my mother…"

"I have spent thousands of years in the domain of Hades…" Graham admitted, "as strange as it may sound, I feel as safe as I possibly can here…which is why I can't offer any advice. You were the first mortal that I ever met."

"But if you ever did fall for a mortal?" she asked after a moment.

"Years can pass in a blink of an eye. There is no reason to treasure every moment when you know that you will definitely have the opportunity to have more. I think the idea of falling for a mortal could be disastrous…"

"So you believe that my mother's marriage is a disaster?" Dawn quirked an eyebrow.

"No…I'm just saying that it has the potential to end badly…I just don't understand why they would risk that for…"

"For True Love?"

"When you live forever, I don't think that True Love can be with a mortal. It doesn't seem very true to me. At least between two mortal they have the opportunity to see each other again in death…an immortal would have to live the rest of their life knowing that they already had and lost their True Love. I wouldn't wish such a cruelty on even my worst enemy…"

"So you believe that two immortals can share True Love?"

Graham bit the inside of his cheek. He was really beginning to question whether he was making matters worse for the confused woman.

"An immortal can certainly fall in love with a mortal but I don't believe that could ever be their happy ending, because immortals don't have endings."

Dawn sighed and propped her head up on her hand. She was sure that she should be more distressed by the man's advice considering he was basically saying that things could never work between her and Devin but it wasn't as though she was deeply, irrevocably in love with the prince.

"So you're saying that my relationship may not be worth it?"

"You can certainly enjoy his company, but in a hundred years, two hundred years, a thousand years, how often do you think your mind would drift to him? He will always be your first love, but do you think that it would be fair to him knowing that you could never be his True Love?"

"If you believe that, then why would you let me push Emma and my mother together?"

"Even if it is guaranteed to end with tragedy, I believe that Regina needs to be able to see that she can love again…many of my years have been spent watching her in misery…I've actually seen her smile more in the past few months than I have in ten thousand years."

Dawn smiled at the thought and nodded, "I suppose that makes sense…you're saying that I can be happy without Devin so there is no reason to potentially put myself through centuries of pain unless I'm sure that it would be worth it?"

"Exactly. You're only twenty years into a very long life…it would be like mortal finding their True Love on the first day of their life."

The brunette sighed again and nodded, "my mother never warned me that it would be this complicated…"

"She did warn you that you shouldn't compete in the tournament, in her defence," Graham chuckled as she moved to pick up his knife and fork.

Dawn rolled her eyes playfully and also moved to pick up her cutlery too. They fell back into a silence but this time there was a little awkwardness in the air. Though, Dawn was rather preoccupied with the thought that Graham had never left the Underworld, the brunette was already thinking of places that she could take him.

* * *

Regina bit the inside of her and crossed her arms over her chest in frustration.

It had been her plan to try and fall asleep before her wife returned from the library. Having spent two days in the woods, she couldn't exactly blame the young princess for not wanting to have a look in Camelot's library. Especially considering she had told her that she specifically needed to work on her magical abilities, she would be foolish to pass up the opportunity.

She did wonder at one point whether her wife would opt to just spend the whole night in the library. It would be far less awkward than actually addressing the fact that they had been married for months and had yet to actually spend more than a few moments in each other's personal space. In fact, it had never really occurred to either of them that admitting they were married to people would mean that they would expect them to act as such. But the mere thought made her throat constrict, even if it would be just for show. She couldn't imagine returning to the Underworld and acting as if they were just something resembling 'friends'. Regina blew out another breath of frustration and looked around the chamber. For a moment, she considered that she could go and sleep somewhere other than the bed or she could simply go and find something else to do instead of sleeping. However, she was very aware that the mortals would begin to question her if any of them saw that she wasn't asleep, especially if she showed no sign of being tired the next day.

With a frustrated breath, she closed her eyes so that she was no longer staring at the ceiling. There was a very good chance that Emma would end up just falling asleep using a book as a pillow once her excitement began to fade and she realised that she had actually been reading for hours.

The ruler of the Underworld remained like this for about ten minutes, adamantly refusing to open her eyes but her pointless attempts at actually falling asleep were thwarted by the sound of the heavy door opening. Regina was about to open her mouth to tell off a servant for interrupting her but the lashing died on her tongue when she saw the blonde standing cautiously by the now closed door.

Instantly, Regina jolted up and moved to stand from the bed and Emma frowned at her.

"What are you doing?" the princess asked, though she still stayed glued to the door as if her body wasn't sure what it should do.

Regina covertly swallowed hard and her fingers dug into the mattress until her knuckles turned white.

"I was just moving in order to give you space to sleep, dear," she managed to say as casually as possible, even though she was not making eye contact with the younger woman.

The blonde frowned deepened and she asked, "…why?"

"Because I do not require sleep and you do…hence, you require space on the bed…and I can easily sleep on the floor."

"But…" Emma began, shifting uncomfortably as she did. She couldn't really admit to herself that she was rather excited by the prospect of having the opportunity to be so close to her wife. She had spent the last couple of hours in the library trying to psych herself up for the possibility and as anxious as it had made her, she couldn't help but feel disappointed that the goddess was now trying to take the opportunity away from her. "We shouldn't do anything that could look suspicious. If a servant was to walk in to find you asleep on the floor, that would surely cause the king to question whether we have been truthful with him about who we are…"

Regina bit the inside of her cheek and tried to put aside the thought that had just occurred to her. It felt almost painfully obvious that Emma actually wanted to share a bed with her but she didn't want to allow herself to think like that. No matter how many times she had thought that Emma had romantic feelings towards her (which was all but confirmed when the woman had kissed her) she didn't want to allow herself to do anything that she would later regret. No matter what way she looked at it, she was still a twenty-one-year-old who had left her palace for the first time a few months ago, which basically made her a very optimistic toddler.

However, she couldn't really think of a reason to dispute her wife's argument considering that there was always a distinct possibility that suspicious behaviour could have them executed, which would work on at least one of them. Plus, she didn't want Emma to lose her chance to train with the Knights of Camelot simply because she couldn't handle being in the same bed as her for a single night.

"I suppose…" the brunette said, once again looking away from Emma. Rather awkwardly, she turned back around so that her legs were under the blanket again and then she continued to look at her lap.

The oppressive silence reigned for about twenty seconds before the younger of the two women realised that she was the one who was supposed to be doing something in that moment. Emma worried at her lip as she looked down at the clothes she was wearing.

She wasn't exactly in any position to go and change into night appropriate clothing and she was sure that would only serve to make the situation even more awkward. Clearly, Regina had the same thought as she was still wearing her leather pants and her tunic.

The blonde quickly reached down to take off her boots, which she left at the door. However, when she reached the halfway point of the room, her hands seemed to make their own decision as she reached up to remove her grey tunic, which left her only in the linen undershirt. She already knew that she was going to be uncomfortable sleeping in the leather pants and she could already tell that her embarrassment was going to make her feel warmer than she usually would, so there was no sense trying to add more leather to her ensemble.

As the blonde removed her tunic, Regina bit the inside of her cheek harder and pretended to be completely disinterested as she lay down completely.

"Goodnight, dear," the goddess said as she quickly turned away from the other woman who was placing her folded tunic on the bedside table.

Emma blinked a couple of times and then took a moment to simply watch the older woman. When it occurred to her that she was staring at her wife's back, she actively snapped herself out of it and scurried over to the bed.

"Goodnight," she replied as she slipped under the blanket.

She couldn't help but thank anyone who was listening that Regina couldn't currently see the deep crimson running from her neck to her cheeks.

The pair of them continued to lay with what was practically a sea of distance between them, despite the fact that they were sharing the same quilt. Neither of them knew that the other woman had their eyes wide open thinking about just how long this night was going to be.

* * *

-7 hours later-

Regina's head lolled to the side, which brought her mind out of unconsciousness, though her tired mind didn't quite allow her eyes to open. Just because she didn't need sleep, that didn't mean that she was difficult to wake up in the event that she actually did go to sleep; after all, it was an excellent way to pass time.

However, the one that she wasn't used to when she woke up was the feeling of intense warmth at her side, which was exactly why the goddess furrowed her brow.

Slowly, she started going through what had happened the night before and then her eyes shot open when everything came flooding back.

Her brown eyes widened comically when she registered the source of the warmth. Emma had a koala-like grip around her side and the princess had her head laid on her shoulder.

For a moment, Regina watched the rise and fall of the younger woman's chest and she allowed herself to simply listen the even breaths that were laced with the odd adorable little sound of contented sleep.

However, it quickly occurred to her the exact position that she was in that moment. The longer she remained in this position, she knew that it was going to become more difficult to stop herself from imagining doing this again.

It was for this reason that she tensed up and was about to move her hands up push the younger woman away from her. As much as she knew that Emma would be confused when she woke up to an empty bed, she also knew that she didn't want to deal with the sheer awkwardness of Emma realising just how strange their position was once her mind cleared of sleep.

Her attempts at trying to free her arm from underneath the younger women were quickly interrupted, though, by the sound of the door opening.

Regina quickly cursed under her breath and attempted to relax. She was sure that whoever it was would question why it was that she looked so tense, after all, she was supposed to be completely comfortable sharing a bed with her wife.

The young maid entering the room quickly froze with wide eyes, which instantly connected with the brunette who was staring at her.

"I..I'm so sorry, I wasn't aware that this chamber was in use," she stuttered as she bowed her head and her grip tightened around the duster in her hand.

Regina did her best to not look annoyed and just nodded at her.

The brunette was about to verbally tell her that it was fine (in hopes of dismissing her), but she stopped herself when she felt the blonde next to her begin to stir.

Emma frowned, clearly going through the same process as Regina has when she had first awoken from her very deep sleep. However, it didn't take the princess long to realise that she was asleep on another person and her body seemed to react before her mind even had a chance to fully catch up to just who that person was.

She shot up quickly and looked around very confusedly.

Regina's eyes widened at the reaction. Later, she would realise that Emma had probably never shared a bed with another person (with the exception, perhaps, of her parents when she was a child), which meant that it would be more than unsettling for her to wake up with the warmth of another person under her. However, in that moment she couldn't stop the disappointment that was running through her veins at the confused look on her wife's face.

The goddess quickly brought herself out of her moment of rejection when her mind registered the fact that there was still a maid watching the scene unfold. A maid who was most likely very confused by Emma's reaction, in her eyes the pair were a real married couple, which meant that she shouldn't be shocked to wake up on her spouse's shoulder.

Regina tore her gaze away from Emma to look at the maid, who looked just as confused as she expected her to. The brunette swallowed hard and looked back to Emma, quickly thinking on her feet, "did you have another nightmare, dear?"

The blonde frowned deeply, though it seemed that her awake mind was slowly starting to come to terms with what was actually going on. She was about to question what Regina meant (especially since she was sure that she had never really had a nightmare in her life), but it quickly occurred to her what was going on as her eyes travelled over the immortal woman's expression.

"I…yes, I did," she quickly replied before looking over to the maid, "sorry if I startled you."

The young woman quickly bowed her head, while shaking it at the same time, and said, "no, my lady, it is I who should be apologising. I was not aware that this room was occupied."

"We should be getting ready for the day," Regina interjected, seeing that Emma had no idea how to cut the tension, "we should be thanking you for waking us."

Emma frowned but she still slid off the bed, as if she was trying to prove her wife's point and rose to her feet.

"Would you be able to please ask prince Arthur the best time for us to join him for training?" the ruler of the Underworld asked, she could see just how desperately this woman wanted to get out of this room.

The maid furrowed her brow; however, she still nodded and turned on her heels to leave.

Once the door closed, the two remaining women stayed in silence for about ten seconds before Emma offered the brunette a smile and moved to the tunic she had discarded on the table the night before.

"I…I think I'll go to the library while we wait for Arthur's reply…" she announced, moving over to her boots as she did so.

Regina nodded quickly," I'll inform him of where you are…"

"Thank you…" Emma said while she tried to think of something else to say. She was sure that she should be saying something more to the woman that she had just been using as a pillow but nothing sprung to mind, so she instead just nodded and moved towards the door.

The sound of the heavy door opening and shutting once again filled the chamber and the moment that Regina was sure that her wife was gone, she fell back against the pillow and groaned in frustration.

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed XD reviews would be much appreciated :D**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N I know it's short considering how long it's been since I've last updated and I'm really sorry about that, but I've just been super busy with uni and work so I'm not going to promise an update soon, but I will definitely try to not make the wait so long again. Hope you enjoy :)**

Chapter twenty-five

"This is a terrible idea! And completely unnecessary!"

Dawn propped her head upon her closed fist and continued to watch the terrified man before her. She had imagined something like this would happen when she had suggested a short trip to the Enchanted forest, but she hadn't thought that it would be quite like this. Then again, she hadn't really thought that Graham would agree to this in the first place. Much to her surprise, it hadn't taken long once the initial fear at the suggestion had worn off, but it also hadn't taken long for him to start freaking out.

First it had been him taking everything in after she had first poofed them there. She had been expecting something, of course, since Graham had spent over two thousand years in the dominion of Hades. The man had no idea what any other realm was like and he had been completely in awe of absolutely everything. This awe naturally started to cause him anxiety, since the unknown was primarily what freaked him out.

"You have been a personal servant to Hades for two thousand years, are you seriously telling me that you can't get on a horse?" Dawn finally asked once she decided that it was cruel to just leave the man staring at the white stallion before him.

Graham just shook his head by way of reply and continued to stare at the beast before him, who was just casually grazing at the grass as if he had no idea that there were two humans in front of him. Quite frankly, Graham couldn't quite fathom why he had agreed to accompany Dawn to the Enchanted Forest. It wasn't as if the young woman needed someone to protect her, considering she would be quite capable of cutting down anyone who threatened her, but it had just been something about the way she had asked. She had looked so excited at the very prospect of having him go with her and he was sure that it was because she had found out that he had never left the Underworld in his entire, immortal, life.

Many times throughout his existence, he had thought about going out to explore other realms and Regina had explicitly stated that he would be allowed to leave whenever he pleased. However, the very thought of going somewhere unfamiliar terrified him more than it probably should have. Whenever he had his bouts of anxiety, he never once considered the fact that he was completely unable to die. It was just the prospect of pain that always made him so reluctant to do anything. But, when Dawn had asked him to go to the Enchanted Forest, he wasn't thinking about the many ways that he could potentially hurt himself, since he had been preoccupied with giving her what she wanted. He could tell that she didn't enjoy spending so much time in the Underworld, especially when her mother and step-mother were not present, so he had agreed to this trip without much thought.

He quickly regretted his decision, though.

Dawn blew out a breath and stood from the ground, which she had been cross-legged upon. She came up behind the slightly taller man and placed a hand on his shoulder. Graham looked over to her, not even registering the fact that he didn't flinch and he smiled in return to her offered grin.

"Okay, you don't have to get on the horse," she laughed, allowing her hand to fall back to her side, "we can just go home if you want…"

Graham swallowed hard and looked around the clearing. For a moment, going back to the Underworld sounded like an excellent idea, but his surroundings gave him pause. There were just so many things here that he had never gotten to experience in the land of the dead. The colours, the fresh air, the sun. It may have been completely overwhelming when they had first arrived, but he now knew that this was not something that he wanted to give up just yet.

"I'm very hungry so perhaps...we could…go for dinner before we leave…" he suggested after he finished his moment of contemplation. "You were raving about the food served in the taverns after your first trip here…"

Dawn tilted her head and tried to hold back a smile at the fact that he actually wanted to stay. She would be lying if she said that she actually wanted to go back to the Underworld right now, but she also didn't want to go back to Devin either.

"Sure…but how do you suppose we get to a tavern without a horse?"

"You could poof us to a town," Graham suggested, before a churn in his stomach reminded him just how nauseous the experience had made him, "…or we could just walk, it can't be that far, right?"

Dawn quirked an eyebrow at the man, this time trying not to chuckle at the hopeful look on his face, "the nearest town is about three hours away by foot, if you're really that hungry…"

"Did I say 'very hungry'…I meant peckish," he quickly replied, which made Dawn to actually laugh out loud.

"I suppose a walk could do both of us some good," she reasoned, deciding not to bring attention to just how happy she was that he wanted to stay. In one swift movement, Dawn linked her arm with his (knowing that he would be less prone to anxiety that way) and waved her free hand to return the horse she had conjured to where it had come from.

The pair began to walk in a comfortable silence as Graham marvelled at everything around him and his younger companion smiled broadly as she watched the thousand-year-old demon actually enjoy himself.

* * *

Regina tapped her fingers frantically against the low wall that she had sat herself upon and worried at her lip intently.

The morning had gone by in a whirlwind as she and her wife were treated to breakfast by the king and it wasn't long until Arthur had invited Emma to the training ground. The blonde was currently stood in front of a practice dummy as she tried the different swings that the knight next to her had shown her. Regina couldn't help but smile slightly at the look of concentration on the young woman's face. The goddess had never thought that it was possible for a mortal to be so adorable. However, a split second later, she cringed once again when the memories from earlier that morning flashed through her mind.

There had been about three seconds when she had woken up that day that she had thought that everything was perfect. There was just something so right about sleeping next to Princess Emma, but when they had both achieved complete consciousness, it had all gone downhill rather quickly.

Back when she still allowed herself to imagine what it would be like to be married to Persephone, she had thought just how perfect it would be to be allowed to hold Ruby in her arms every night. How everything would be perfect for the rest of eternity if the goddess of nature had only decided that she would be willing to do anything for the woman that she claimed to love.

"You do know that you don't have to stare?"

Regina blinked out of her reverie and jumped slightly as she looked up. Her hand twitched to ignite a fireball, but she quickly stopped when she registered just who had interrupted her thoughts.

"Are you following me?" she sighed, though her tone lacked any real exasperation.

Mal chuckled and shook her head as she dropped down to sit next to her friend.

"Are you implying that there is no reason for the goddess of sorcery to be in Camelot?" she quipped.

"At this moment, the only reason that I can see for you to be here is that you became bored on Olympus and decided to intrude in my personal life," Regina huffed, and turned her gaze back to Emma.

Hecate looked back over to the blonde again and raised her eyebrows, "if only the mortals knew that Hades spent her time staring at her beautiful wife, they probably would not be quite as afraid of you…"

"Is there actually a reason that you're here?" Regina asked, just about managing to resist her urge to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"I'm here to offer a piece of advice, dear," Mal replied, "after our conversation on Olympus I thought that you would strive to actually spend time with your wife. The extent to which you missed her was close to physical pain, why are you watching her spend time with others?"

"She is training for a tournament…would you deny her the opportunity to train with the knights of Camelot?"

"She is learning nothing that you or Dawn would not be capable of teaching her. Do you not think that your time would not be better spent getting to know more about one another? You could be in the Underworld at this very moment growing closer rather than thinking about just how awkward your morning was."

"You're here to give me love tips?" Regina laughed incredulously.

"I don't really think that suggesting spending more personal time with your wife is a 'love tip', it sounds more like common sense to me," Mal shrugged.

Regina opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by the sound of someone jogging over to them. She looked up to see Emma smiling broadly at her and she tilted her head questioningly.

"Did you see? I disarmed Lancelot," she said quickly, not even noticing the person next to her wife.

Regina's eyebrows shot up and she glanced over to the man that had been training Emma. She hadn't really thought to question just who he was, but she now recognised the man frowning down at his blade, as if he couldn't believe that the princess had just thrown his sword to the ground.

"That's…amazing," she finally replied.

Emma's smile broadened and she was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet before her initial excitement wore off and she finally registered the other woman who had been watching them in amusement.

"My apologises for interrupting…" she started, but Hecate held up a hand with a smirk. She could certainly see why her friend found this woman so adorable.

"It's okay, dear, it is not my place to stand between a pair spouses' conversation."

Regina shook her head, reminding herself that she couldn't exactly just tell Mal to stop enjoying this so much.

Emma tilted her head and shot a look over to Regina, silently asking who this woman was. It wasn't as though she had ever known the immortal to spontaneously make friends.

Mal looked between the pair and waited for either of them to say something and quirked an eyebrow at the older of the two. She had never really known Regina to be silent, except for when she was trying to avoid interacting with Ruby.

When she decided that the silence had stretched on for far too long, she leaned forward slightly and said, "you must be Princess Emma White, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Mal."

The blonde woman nodded slowly and managed a smile despite her confusion, as Mal extended her hand for the young woman to shake.

It quickly became apparent that the princess was none the wiser and Mal added, "perhaps you would know me better as Hecate?"

Emma's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open slightly, "Hecate," she repeated slowly. Upon having it confirmed that Hades was a real person, she of course knew that all of the other gods and goddesses must also be real, but it had never really occurred to her that she might meet any of them.

Regina shot her friend a look that said 'stop freaking out my wife' before she said, "I believe Lancelot is waiting a for a rematch, dear."

Emma blinked out of her shock and looked over to her shoulder to the man who was looking at her questioningly, obviously wondering who the unfamiliar woman with them was.

The princess nodded and looked back over to Hecate, "it was lovely to meet you," she said with a quick nod.

Mal smiled at her, but quickly raised her hand before the younger woman could turn on her heels, "before you go, dear, I believe that I owe you a wedding gift."

Before Regina could open her mouth to say that wouldn't be necessary, Hecate waved her hand and a relatively thin leather-bound book appeared between her fingers.

"I can see that you have great potential for the mystical arts and I believe that this should be of great assistance in beginning your studies," the magical goddess explained, "there's no need to remain Camelot."

Emma furrowed her brow, but still reached forward to take the book, which she promptly ran her hand over it, "thank you," she said, her words dripping with awe at the skilful display of magic.

"I believe you should get back to the knight, you wouldn't want to miss the opportunity," Mal replied.

Emma nodded and handed the book to Regina before she quickly said 'thank you' again and actually turned on her heels to make her way back over to Lancelot.

Hades watched her wife go, before she looked back over to Mal with narrowed eyes.

"What?" the other goddess laughed.

"A wedding gift?"

Mal shrugged with a smirk, "seemed as good of an excuse as any to give her the book. With that book there is no reason that the two of you can't return to the Underworld and continue her studies there. You can go on your adventures when the two of you can share a bed without cringing."

Regina's eyes widened for a moment before her expression returned to a frown and she asked, "you used your powers to watch me sleep?"

"That would be an invasion of privacy," Mal replied with a smirk, "I merely used them to see whether the two of you sharing a bed would be a catastrophe and it seemed that I was correct to check."

The brunette rolled her eyes deeply and looked down to the book in her hands, "what exactly is so special about this?"

"I have tailored it to her type of magic, it should accelerate her learning more than anything you will find in any other realm."

"So you believe that she will agree to return to the Underworld just because you have given her a book?" Regina asked doubtfully.

"I believe that she would return any time you ask her to," Hecate replied as she rose from her seat, "she would probably do anything you ask of her just as you would do for her."

The brunette was about to argue but Mal was already waving her hand to take her back to Olympus, "enjoy the rest of your little vacation," she laughed just before she fully disappeared.

Regina huffed when her friend was finally gone and shook her head. It was truly beginning to irritate her just how much people were interfering with her marriage.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter twenty-six

"This is delicious!" Graham exclaimed as he tore another bite away from the chimera he had been served.

Dawn shook her head at him, he may have been afraid of many things, but it did not appear that he was too frightened of appearing uncouth. She could understand though. She was sure that she had reacted the same way when she had first tried to food outside of the Enchanted Forest. As much as she loved going to the Underworld just to visit her mother, she had to admit that the food was somehow bland when compared to the offerings of the other realms.

"You really need to slow down or you will definitely throw up when we teleport back," she said semi-seriously.

Graham faltered for a moment at the thought of teleporting, but then the taste of the meat hit his tongue once again and he decided that a little bit of nausea would definitely be worth it.

Dawn rolled her eyes with a grin tugging at the corner of her lips as he continued to devour the meat and she reached forward to bring up her tankard of beer up to her lips.

"I never thought they would let her out of the castle, let alone allow her to explore on her own."

The demi-goddess furrowed her brow at the sound of the gossiping women behind her. She was not usually one to listen in on conversations, but she was fairly certain that there not many people that they could be talking about and she had thought she had seen one of them before when she had entered the tavern. At the time she had quickly pushed it aside since she had to try and temper Graham's nerves, he wasn't too used to being around this many people.

Now though, he seemed more than comfortable so her attention naturally shifted to her surroundings.

"I can't imagine how they manged to hide an heir for twenty-one years, people were starting to panic, you know," the woman's companion laughed into her drink, "we had no idea if they ever even planned to have a child and now we find out that the princess is already of age."

"In body maybe," the woman who worked in the palace laughed, "but I find it hard to believe that my little Persephone is truly grown in mind."

At the sound of the name, Dawn choked on her beer and placed the tankard down hard as she tried not to sputter too hard onto the table.

Graham frowned at her, looking very much concerned, but she quickly held up a hand to tell him that she was fine.

"Are you okay, dear?" the woman behind her asked and Dawn instantly realised why she had recognised her. She had met the princess's tutor during her stay in the palace and now she was slightly embarrassed that she hadn't recognised Granny considering Emma had actually introduced her to the woman.

In the same moment, Eugenia Lucas seemed to realise that she too had met the other woman and her eyebrows knit together. She was sure that she had never seen a royal's companion in a tavern before, especially with a man that was not her prince.

Dawn cringed when she realised her folly, but she decided that she didn't really have much to worry about. Though she wasn't quite ready to admit it aloud, she didn't really think that there was much chance that she would be returning to Devin forever. She just couldn't imagine wanting to spend an eternity with him, even if she could.

"Mrs Lucas," she greeted as she shot Graham a look that said she would explain later, "how strange it is to run into you here."

The tutor nodded her agreement, choosing not to comment, though Dawn was sure that she would be telling someone soon. The woman was clearly a gossip. It must have killed her to have to hide the existence of a princess that only a select few knew about.

Silence passed between them, while Graham looked between to pair to try and figure out what he was missing, but he mostly just wanted to know the same thing as Dawn did.

"We really must be going," Dawn announced as she elbowed Graham, who promptly rose from his seat while wiping some food from his face.

Granny nodded, still with the glimmer of suspicion in her eyes and Dawn decided that there was no way out of this situation so she might as well ask what she wanted to know.

"Why do you call Princess Emma Persephone?" she asked brazenly.

The older woman's frown deepened, but she seemed to decide that there was no harm in telling her since she already knew that she was one of Emma's friends.

"She has always taken great pleasure in working with flowers, it seemed fitting," she replied with suspicion dripping through all of her words, "why do you ask?"

Dawn simply shrugged and offered her a smile as she tried to keep the excitement down in her stomach.

"Just curious," she said, "it was a pleasure seeing you again."

With that, she grabbed Graham by the arm and pulled him out of the tavern in five seconds flat. She was suddenly grateful that she had paid upfront for everything they had ordered.

"Did you hear that?!" she exclaimed excitedly once they came to a stop outside.

Graham opened and closed his mouth a few times as he considered what the woman had just told them. He knew exactly where Dawn's mind was going right now but he didn't want to be the one to tell her that it could simply be a coincidence.

"You think…that proves that Emma is the one?" he asked slowly.

Dawn nodded vigorously and Graham bit the inside of his cheek. As much as he believed that Emma could easily make Regina happy, the fact remained that the young princess would not be able to be with the goddess for the rest of eternity.

In her whirlwind of excitement, Dawn failed to see the doubt evident in her companion's face and she reached forward to grab his arm.

"We need to get back," she announced.

"Why so urgently?" Graham asked as he tried to pull his arm away, he suddenly felt a wave of nausea at the implication of poofing.

"Well, we need all the time we can get if we're going to try and make some plants grow in the Underworld."

* * *

Emma was sure that she should be able to sleep after the exhausting day that she'd had.

After she had disarmed Lancelot, he had stopped going easy on her and she was sure that she had more than one bruise for every new thing that he taught her.

Despite this though, she still couldn't stop the massive grin that adorned her face when she thought about the training. It wasn't so long ago that she would have spent the day sat in the White Palace's library reading the Le Morte d'Arthur.

With a quiet sigh, she realised that was precisely the reason that she couldn't sleep.

Her head lolled to the side and she couldn't stop herself from smiling at the sight before.

It also wasn't too long ago that she would never have imagined that she would ever meet a goddess, let alone be sitting next to a sleeping one and thinking about just how adorable the woman looked.

She had been more than surprised to find that Regina had already gone to sleep before she had arrived in the room, though she imagined that it was because she didn't want to deal with the awkwardness that was the previous night.

Emma spent a few more moments staring at the goddess of the Underworld, before she decided that it was kind of creepy that she was just watching her wife sleeping. So, her head lolled to the other side so that she was looking at table by the side of the bed. Upon its surface laid the leather-bound book that Hecate had gifted to her earlier.

In all of her eagerness to continue her sword training, she hadn't really thought much about the book since she had asked Regina to look after it.

She looked over her shoulder to make sure that she wouldn't disrupt the older woman as she reached over to bring the book towards herself. She smiled down at the cover. She hadn't noticed in the daylight, but 'Emma White' inscribed on the cover.

A shift at her side brought her attention away from it for a moment and she looked back over to Regina to see that the woman was stirring slightly.

The blonde cringed slightly and got out of the bed as sneakily as she possibly could. After pulling on her boots, she made her way over to the door and followed the now familiar path towards the library.

It wasn't long before she found herself sat cross-legged at the foot of one of the shelves and she placed the book onto her lap.

Slowly, she lifted the cover of it so that she could turn to the first page and a frown instantly overtook her face when she was faced with a blank page.

Her fingers quickly moved to turn to the next page and then the next page until she finally just pick up the book and flicked through every page. There didn't seem to be a single bit of ink anywhere in the book and she blew out a breath of disappointment and fell back against the bookcase with slumped shoulders.

"You have to tell it what you want to know," someone said behind her and Emma jumped where sat so that her head collided with the shelf.

"Ow," she called as she brought her hand up to cover the spot in which she hit.

Merlin's eyes widened and he fell into a kneeling position in front of the princess, "my apologises, I didn't mean to surprise you."

He raised his hand questioningly and Emma frowned for a moment before she nodded her consent and he reached forward to place his hand over the injury. Without even a word, his hand began to glow and the blonde allowed her eyes to close as the magic sent a soothing jolt throughout all of her nerves.

The magician pulled his hand away once he was satisfied that the spell had done its job, he leaned back so that he was sitting in front of her, though not quite as close as he had just been to her.

"My apologises, I just couldn't bear the thought of you giving up on that perfectly good book," he chuckled lightly as he gestured towards the book.

Emma frowned down at the pages and replied, "but it's blank…"

"And if you hadn't been asked a question, your mind would also be blank of answers," Merlin shot back with a grin when the women seemed to only become more confused. "What is it that you were planning to learn from this book?"

Emma's eyebrows knit together as she considered this for a couple of moments. What she knew about magic could probably fill less than a page of paper. All she knew was that her magic was governed by her emotions, but if she couldn't control her emotions then she would never be able to control her magic. But she had no idea how she would even begin to start understanding something that she had only recently been made aware that she even possessed.

After a brief pause, she looked back up to Merlin and replied, "everything."

Merlin laughed at just how excited the young princess looked and he held out his hand so that she could hand him the book.

"I'm afraid that a single night will not be enough time for everything. Magic is complex and unique to each person. It gives its user exactly what they want and what they need and it always comes with a price."

"A price?" Emma repeated, suddenly looking somewhat afraid.

"No spell can be cast without some kind of consequence, for the simplest of spells the price will be very imperceptible. But if you use your magic for something more significant, the price will be equal to your intent. Should you use your gift to harm another, then harm will most definitely come to you in ways that you could not possibly expect."

"And if I use magic for good?" the blonde asked, now more nervous about the prospect of magic.

"Then you will be rewarded in some way, I believe the concept is called Karma in other realms."

The blonde nodded her understanding, she had come across that term in her reading.

Merlin smiled at the woman, hoping that he looked somewhat reassuring. He had lost count of the years that had passed since he had first learned magic, but he was still painfully aware of how he had felt when he had learned on all of the restrictions that was placed on the art. Being ultimately powerful didn't mean that one had the right to do whatever they pleased.

"Perhaps you could try a simple spell with no repercussions?" Merlin suggested after the silence became longer than could be considered comfortable.

"Like?"

The sorcerer thought about this for a moment, before he grinned and whispered something to the book.

It didn't take long for writing to appear on the page and he turned it over to show the princess.

"I trust you understand Elfish?"

The blonde took the book from him and nodded, "I studied the language in my free-time at the palace…"

"Strange hobby for a princess," Merlin chuckled.

Emma shrugged, "it was interesting…" She trailed off and looked down at the book once more and a smile started tugging at the corner of her lips when she read just what he wanted her to do.

"These are spells to create a gift?" she asked.

"Well, it seems quite unlikely to me that there could be any prices to pay for creating a gift for your wife," he replied, "and this will give you a chance to learn how to follow a spell rather than relying only on your instincts."

The blonde nodded and returned to reading the words, before she looked back up at him and asked, "could…could you show me how to follow a spell?"

* * *

Regina groaned as sunlight invaded her peaceful sleep and her forehead scrunched as if the action would stop her from having to wake up. If anything she didn't want to have to repeat the awkwardness of the other morning, even if she could admit in her mind that there had been a brief moment before they had both achieved full consciousness when the moment was perfect and uninhibited by all of reasons that they shouldn't be sharing a bed.

The goddess groaned again when it became clear that her mind was already thinking way too much into everything, which meant that there was no way that she would be falling back to sleep now. She sighed heavily and finally decided to open her eyes and pushed herself up on her hands.

It took a moment for her still tired mind to process the fact that she was alone in the bed. Though this was something that she was very much used to, she was still aware that she shouldn't actually be alone while they were in Camelot. After all, they had appearances to keep up.

However, she soon had her answer as to the reason to the princess's disappearance when she noticed that there was a certain book missing from the bedside table. Though she had no idea why that would have taken the young woman away all night since she had yet to show her how to actually use the enchanted book.

Regina shook this off and swung her legs around the side of the bed so that she could begin to get ready, but she was interrupted by the sound of the heavy door opening and closing.

The brunette expected to see another maid when she looked up and she prepared a method to dismiss her, but any words died on her lips when she saw a very tired looking blonde smiling at her timidly.

Regina's eyes fell down to the book she clutched and she instantly knew that she had been right about what the woman had spent her night doing.

"I trust you discovered the books secret and didn't spend hours staring at blank pages?" Hades asked with a slight grin.

"Merlin gave me something of an introduction to magic," Emma replied as she made her way across the room. "I'm sorry for leaving you alone, but I couldn't resist exploring an enchanted book given to me by the goddess of magic."

"I understand, dear," Regina chuckled.

Emma smiled in response and then rocked awkwardly on her heels as a silence between them. Finally, she decided to move the conversation along:

"Merlin showed me how to use the book and allowed me to practice a spell…" as she explained, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a necklace. It was a simple chain with a purple pendant that matched the colour of the bracelet she had brought her wife in the Enchanted Forest.

The goddess blinked a few times, just as she did the last time that she had received a gift from the blonde. In all of her time, she was sure that she had never wanted anything other than freedom from the Underworld, but being given jewellery by a mortal still somehow made her heart swell. And this was the third time that it had happened.

The princess moved around the bed so that she could sit next to her wife and she placed the necklace into her hand.

"I know that the shape isn't exactly perfect, but I think it turned out fairly well…" Emma said as she waited for Regina's reaction.

"It is perfect," the goddess corrected her as she smiled at the carving of the White Family crest upon the surface of the pendant. She was sure that it would piss off Snow White if she knew that her daughter had given the symbol so freely to the goddess of the Underworld, but it wasn't that which was making Regina smile. It was the fact that Emma actually wanted her to wear a necklace with her family crest upon it.

"I just thought that it could serve as a reminder that whenever I visit the Enchanted Forest, I will always return to the Underworld…to home…"

Regina opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to think of something that she could say to show the princess just how much that meant to her, but no words came to mind.

So without much thought, the brunette whispered an incantation so that a similar necklace (though this one was obsidian) materialised in her own hand and she handed it over to the blonde.

Emma furrowed her brow for a moment as she inspected the pendant, but she quickly recognised the crest of Hades that she had seen many times in the Underworld.

Emma didn't need to any explanation as to why she had just created a similar necklace and it was as if her mind had completely repressed all of her Regina-related nerves in that moment.

She leaned in as an invitation, giving the goddess a chance to stand from the bed if she wasn't prepared for this, but it seemed that she too was taken in by the moment as she met her half way and their lips connected.

At first, the kiss was tentative, far more akin to the innocent peck that Emma had stolen before she had left for the Enchanted Forest. However, it wasn't long before the blonde raised her hand to cup Regina's cheek and somehow pull their lips impossibly closer as they moved against each other with increasing passion.

They eventually parted, though they still remained closer than they had before.

Emma let out a small laugh as her smile reached her eyes and Regina couldn't help but mirror that expression. In that one perfect moment, she had forgotten that the blonde was mortal and that there would eventually be a time when she would have to live without her.

"I was thinking…" Emma began once the comfortable silence had run its course, "perhaps we should return to the Underworld soon?"

Regina quirked an eyebrow at the blonde curiously. The princess had been so excited to visit other realms and she found it hard to believe that one kiss would make her want to stop her adventure so soon.

"I believe it would be best to pace our realm-hopping before we run out of new places," Emma replied in response to Regina's unasked question. Though, she didn't say out loud that the real reason that she wanted to return home was because it would be easier define their confused relationship without all of the distractions.

Regina nodded in understanding, even though she was still finding it hard to think straight after that kiss. Her mind was still somehow processing every moment of her and the fact that it had actually happened and that it had felt so right.

"Perhaps we should remain in Camelot for a while longer?" she suggested after her mind allowed her to think of something else, "it would be quite rude to our hosts to just disappear and it would be foolish to pass up the chance to study magic with Merlin for at least a few days."

The princess nodded by way of reply, mostly because she didn't want to show the immortal that she was slightly disappointed. However, she did understand that the woman had spent thousands of years alone, so one spontaneous kiss would hardly be enough to make her completely comfortable with a mortal that she had known for only a few months. Despite this though, the fact that they were still closer to each other than they would have been in the past ignited a fire of hope.

"Get some sleep, dear," Regina announced as she reluctantly rose the bed, as much as she didn't want it to be, the moment was over and all of her doubts were beginning to creep back in. "You look exhausted."

Emma hummed in agreement as she fell back against the bed, almost instantly closing her eyes.

"'night, Gina," she mumbled.

Regina shook her head with a small laugh as she leaned over to pull the blanket over the princess.

 **A/N Reviews are a great motivator :D  
**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter twenty-seven

"Many thanks for your hospitality, your majesty," Regina said with a bowed head, "but I'm afraid that my wife and I will be departing in the next few days for home."

King Uther gave Regina a smile and nodded, "I suppose that my son did hijack your honeymoon."

The brunette resisted the urge to verbally agree with him. As much as she knew that Emma had been enjoying training with the knights and receiving some lessons from Merlin, she had kind of wished that Arthur had never found them in that clearing. There were far too many distractions in the royal palace which meant that she got to spend less time with her wife. She wasn't quite sure what she had been hoping for from their adventures, but having Emma pay attention to other people wasn't exactly what she had wanted. Despite this, though, she was well aware of the fact that the blonde needed to experience life more fully now. If she forced her to stay strictly in her company for the rest of her life, then the princess would have simply moved from one prison to another. Plus, seeing the smile that she wore when she experienced something new was well worth the pangs of jealousy she felt when Emma paid attention to other people.

"My apologies for my wife's absence, she wanted to explore the town," Regina replied, rather than commenting upon how correct his previous statement had been.

Uther nodded, "I always appreciate when travellers enjoy my kingdom, there is no need for apologies, though I believe that you would much rather be with your wife at this moment rather than discussing your travelling arrangements with me."

Regina nodded, not even bothering to hide her smile. She had agreed to meet Emma as soon as she had finished talking to Uther and they were going to find a quiet place to have a picnic. Neither of them had actually said it, but they both knew that they would be talking about their relationship. As much as that thought made Regina unbelievably uncomfortable, it would mean that they would finally have an opportunity to talk candidly about everything, most specifically that kiss that they had shared the day before. Ever since that had happened, they had been more awkward around each other than ever before and Regina wanted nothing more than to actually discuss what it meant so that they could stop tip-toeing around each other. After all, she could no longer deny that there was no way that the blonde had at least some feelings for her.

"Thank you, your majesty," she said and he gave a nod to confirm that she was free to leave whenever she was ready.

The goddess turned on her heels and made her way out of the throne room. She didn't remember Uther being quite as kind in the stories as he was in that moment, but they were in peace times so he didn't exactly have any reason to act any way other than polite. Plus, there was the fact he didn't have any reason to keep her and Emma from leaving. It was Arthur who had invited them to stay when he had thought that he would have a chance with one of them and they hadn't really seen the young prince since he had found out that they were together. He was probably off somewhere finding a woman who he did have a chance with and his father was simply making good on the promise of hospitality that his son had made.

Regina walked quickly towards the town at the foot of the castle. She had promised Emma that she would be able to find her and that they would be able to find somewhere to have their picnic. From what she knew of the blonde, she assumed that she was either looking at the items in a blacksmith or she had probably made a new friend. Regina found that she didn't really have to worry about the young woman as much anymore since she had been able to kick the asses of the Knights of the future Round Table; plus, if she were really in trouble, her magic would probably activate automatically. However, that didn't change the fact that Hades was still anxious to find her wife so that they could have the talk that they had been needing to have for a while now. She was sick of all of the doubts and worries she'd been having since she had met Emma and she needed to know if the princess felt the same way about her that she did. It wouldn't be an immediate fix for their awkwardness, but it would at least be a step in the right direction and it would mean that she wouldn't have to spend all of her time worrying that the girl would find someone new (and mortal) the next time that she went off to visit the Enchanted Forest on her own.

In her rush, she decided to take a short cut down an alleyway between houses. She had planned to quickly walk towards the blacksmith on the other side to follow her first hunch, when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder and she pushed against the wall.

For a few seconds, her mind didn't quite catch up to what was happening. All her senses told her was that the man who had her pinned against the wall smelt of lager and was leering at her with his filthy teeth showing.

"You're too beautiful to be walking alone down a dark alley," he slurred.

In that moment, Regina realised exactly what he thought that he was going to get from her and she almost felt sorry for him. It was fairly unlucky to think you were going to get what you want from a woman, only for that woman to be the goddess of the Underworld. Then again, she supposed that the disgusting man deserved no sympathy at all.

The brunette was about to extend the fingers on both of her hands to ignite a fire ball in each palm but she was cut short by the sound of metal cracking against the man's head.

Regina's shoulders were released and she blinked a few times as she watched him fall to the ground in a prone heap.

When she tore her eyes away from him, she looked up to her Saviour and smiled instantly at the very much concerned blonde.

Emma must have seen what was happening from the Blacksmith (which meant that Regina had been right about where she was, very much a point of pride for the brunette). She was currently frowning down at the hilt of her sword to see if she had gotten anything on it when she had whacked the man around the back of the head.

"You didn't need to do that, Princess," Regina sighed as she knelt down to inspect the man. Though she would have gladly seen scum like him dead by her hand, she didn't want Emma to have just taken a life for her. The young woman might have experienced more than she had in her entire life in the past few months, but that didn't mean that manslaughter was one of the things that she needed to experience.

Regina blew out a breath of relief when she felt a very strong pulse under her two fingers and she was saw that the blow hadn't even broken the skin on the back of his head. He was just out cold. She made a note to tell a guard where to find him so that he wouldn't be able to try anything on a woman or girl who couldn't protect themselves and then she pushed herself up to her feet.

"You didn't really look like you had it under control," Emma shot back with a slight smirk. When she had seen what was happening, she hadn't been worried for a single moment. Even if Regina was vulnerable to a mortal, she was sure that it was very unlikely that anyone would actually be able to lay a hand on her considering all of the ways that she knew how to kill someone.

The young woman had decided to intervene more for his sake than Regina's. Even if she didn't think that he deserved any mercy for what he was planning to do, she didn't quite think that anyone actually deserved to be incinerated by the goddess of the Underworld.

Regina rolled her eyes as Emma sheathed the sword and shook her head, though she was smiling slightly too. She couldn't deny that there was a certain level of pride at the thought that Emma had gone from who was essentially a sheltered child to a woman who was able to protect even a centuries old goddess.

* * *

Dawn blew out a breath of frustration and propped her head up on her closed fist.

Though she had spent a great deal of her life in the Underworld, she had never been as frustrated at her mother's dominion as she had been in that moment. She had just about managed to get a couple seeds to not die when she placed them in the soil, but it took some inventive magic and nothing she tried could get the plant to actually grow without wilted a split second later.

She placed her hand over the soil and muttered yet another spell that she had found in one of her mother's spell books. When nothing happened, she blew out a frustrated breath and fell from her bent legs into a cross legged position. Placing her head on her closed fist, she began leafing through the book one more time. She couldn't quite believe that she had been at this for hours and she had achieved next to nothing.

"You could probably use a break," someone from behind her announced.

Dawn ran her hand over her face and looked over her shoulder. Graham stood holding two tankards, which she hoped contained beer and she blew out a breath of relief as she jumped to her feet and grabbed the beverage from him.

Without a word, she brought the tankard up to her lips and drank half of it in almost one gulp.

Graham's eyebrows shot up and he said, "I take that it isn't going well…"

"I'm starting to see why mom didn't want to bring Persephone here," Dawn replied once she had brought the beverage away from her mouth.

The man smiled sadly at that and took a sip of his own drink, but he made no attempt to reply.

"How am I supposed to do this?" Dawn sighed and looked down into what was left of her drink.

Graham frowned at the pile of books and dead plant stems, "you did technically get something to grow, we just need to figure out how to keep it alive for more than a few seconds…"

Dawn nodded her agreement, "I may have run out of books though…I have no idea what else to try…"

Graham tilted his head, she knew that he had no idea how to help with magic so he could only assume that she didn't actually want any help, she just wanted someone to rant to.

"There's a patch of soil in the Underworld where a seed won't instantly die, I would say that's progress. And isn't organically growing the plants part of tending to a garden?" he asked after a moment of consideration.

"So, you're saying that I should give Emma the gift of dirt?" Dawn asked with a sceptical raise of an eyebrow, before she looked down to the patch of dirt and noticed that it was a different colour to the surrounding soil. It may not have been the lush green fields of the Enchanted Forest, but it was still wasn't the dead dirt of the Underworld.

Dawn quickly decided that the demon was right, this was the best that she was going to get. Making something actually grow would only prove that the princess was indeed the 'new Persephone'.

"Can you help me build a fence?" she asked with another sigh, slightly disappointed that she hadn't managed to achieve what she had set out to.

Graham just laughed and nodded but he was interrupted by the sound the sound of footsteps behind him.

The man furrowed his brow and looked over his shoulder. Instantly all of the anxiety that he had ever felt came crashing down upon him and he felt like he wanted to jump behind Dawn in fear, though he resisted the urge.

Dawn on the other hand, just looked very confused at the sudden appearance of the stranger and then she switched to instant defensiveness. No mortal could just walk into the Underworld and if they somehow did, there was no way that they would look as calm as this red-head woman did. There was also the fact that she was clearly no mere mortal, Dawn could practically feel the power oozing from her and Graham looked far more terrified than usual.

He knew exactly who this woman was and he was also painfully aware of the mood that Regina was in after the rare occasions when she had actually visited her in the Underworld.

The red-head looked Dawn up and down and smiled broadly, though it was hardly the smile of a loving aunt, "you must be my dear niece, I have been wanting to meet you for some time now, but your mother is so insistent that she doesn't want to bring you to Olympus."

Dawn bit the inside of her cheek as she instantly realised just who this woman was. She couldn't deny that Olympus had always been a place that she had longed to visit, but she was a demi-goddess. A mortal couldn't journey to the home of the divine and survive; however, since the tournament, she had technically been capable of surviving the journey, she just didn't feel like it was something that she could do. If her own mother only went there when she absolutely had to, she couldn't really see the woman being thrilled to hear that her daughter had gone alone. For now, she had decided that she had enough realms to explore, so she wouldn't need to broach the difficult subject until her curiosity got the better of her.

"Zeus, I take it?" Dawn asked and rolled her eyes when she heard Graham made a squeaking nose, obviously, he didn't think that was the correct way to address the ruler of the Olympians, but she found that she couldn't find herself to be afraid. From the little that Regina had told her about her sister over her life, this woman didn't deserve any respect.

The demon looked at the woman cautiously hoping that her legendary temper wasn't as quick as he had heard; however, he did relax slightly when he noticed that the woman was just smiling and she looked more impressed than angry.

"Please dear, family have the right to call me Zelena."

"Would that have been true before I was given immortality?" Dawn asked with narrowed eyes. She was sure that Zelena wouldn't have the slightest bit of respect for mortal lives and she could understand to some degree. The woman had been alive for so long that there would be no reason behind getting invested in a person who would be gone a handful of decades (if they were one of the lucky ones).

"Is it my fault if your mother didn't take any opportunity to introduce you to me?" Zelena asked as she crossed her arms across her chest and smirked. It had been a while since she had talked to her sister and she couldn't help but feel like she was pissing the very same woman off right now since Dawn looked so much like her mother, she had to admit that it felt great. Plus, there was the fact that Regina would probably burst with fury at the thought of her talking to her dear daughter with no supervision. In fact, the very thought of Zeus in the Underworld would probably piss her off.

"Does your presence here right now not prove that you don't need my mother's permission? I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't want you in her domain," Dawn shot back with narrowed eyes.

Graham's eyes widened and he gave the younger woman a look that said 'what the hell are you thinking?' but she seemed to ignore this as she continued to look at her aunt with a smug expression. She wasn't exactly sure why her first instinct was to piss off Zeus, since she was fairly certain that she had the power to kill an immortal, but the thought of all of her hurt that this woman caused her mother made the girl want to punch her so sharp words would probably be her safest option right now.

Zelena tilted her head and smirked, she decided that she definitely liked this girl, she was very amusing.

"I suppose you have a point there, dear," she laughed, before she turned to Graham and smirked as he flinched, "I'm here to request an audience with your mistress."

The demon swallowed hard. He had almost forgot that he was technically Regina's manservant since she hadn't treated him as such since she and Emma had started getting closer.

"S-she isn't…here," he replied, just about loud enough to be heard.

Zelena raised her eyebrow at the man and looked between him and Dawn, "I was under the impression that my sister spent her days moping around her palace."

Dawn blew out a breath of frustration at the smug expression on the woman's face, though she had nothing to say in reply.

"But I suppose that her depression has lifted since she forced her mortal wife here," the red-head continued.

Her niece took a couple of deep breaths. She knew that her mother's relatives on Olympus saw her as the monster who had forced a mortal woman to be her wife and she hated the thought of them thinking that. It had started that way, of course, but if any of them had seen Emma and Regina together, they would have completely forgotten that was how their relationship had started. The princess was free to go whenever she wished and was under no obligation to return to the Underworld. She may have started as a prisoner of Hades, but she had quickly become a wife whom she actually loved.

"I assume that you didn't come here to ask about my mother's emotional state?" Dawn replied with narrowed eyes as she resisted the urge to throw a fireball at the goddess. Though she wouldn't admit it aloud, she was painfully aware of the fact that she wouldn't be capable of doing anything other than pissing the ruler of the Olympians off. If there were anyone in the universe with capability to kill an immortal, she was fairly certain that it was Zeus.

Zelena raised her eyebrow. Though it was true that this girl was slightly irritating her, she didn't see much point in doing anything by way of punishment since it would most likely start a pointless war with her sister. Unlike most of the other gods and goddess Regina seemed to actually care about her only demi-god child.

"I simply came to offer my congratulations on her nuptials, is that so malicious that I should be interrogated by a child?"

Dawn opened her mouth to shoot back a scathing reply but nothing came out. She could swear that the air had suddenly become electrified and she was legitimately afraid of what antagonising this woman further could result in. Plus, there was the fact that she was sure that Graham would be having a panic attack any moment now.

"I suppose not," Dawn finally replied, she was determined not to offer any kind of apology but she didn't want to prolong this conversation either.

Zelena smirked at her, she could tell that the girl was actually afraid at this point despite how hard she was trying to hide it and she hadn't even seen the kind of damage that Zeus could do.

However, she decided that there would be no reason to show her yet and being in the Underworld was making her stomach twist in disgust anyway.

With a flick of her wrist, a sealed envelope appeared in her hand and she took a few steps forward towards Graham. When she was standing in front of him, she grabbed his hand and turned it over and stared at him until he took the hint and opened his palm. She placed the envelop on top of his hand and brought her arm back.

Zelena then wiped her hand on her pants, as if touching a demon could cause some kind of infection and said, "please give that letter to Hades the moment that she returns."

Graham made his signature squeaking noise again. He opened his mouth to assure her that he would, but no sounds came out, so he just nodded instead.

The red-head smirked at him and looked over her shoulder, "I look forward to meeting you again, dear."

With that, she waved her hands and disappeared in a cloud of green smoke.

A few moments after she had disappeared, Graham released a breath that he hadn't been aware that he had been holding and he placed both hands on his knees as he doubled over and began taking deep breaths.

Dawn just shook her head, but didn't say a word as she walked over to him to make sure that he was okay.

* * *

After they had made sure to inform a guard of the unconscious man in the alley, Emma and Regina had promptly gone off in search of the perfect place to have their picnic.

It didn't take long at all, to find a patch of grass just outside of town. It wasn't quite into the dense forest, so Regina was sure that there was no way that could get interrupted by someone trying to rob them yet again.

The pair seemed to silently agree that this was the best place that they were going to find and Regina waved her hand to make a red blanket appear on the ground with a wicker basket on top of it.

Emma's face lit up at the display of magic (she had yet to get used to just how effortless it was for her wife and she felt as though she would never get used to the sight no matter just how much she learnt).

"There should be a few sandwiches and some fruit in the basket," Regina explained as she motioned for Emma to take a seat by it.

The blonde complied with her wife's silent request and went to sit cross-legged on the blanket. The goddess followed her and waved her hands again to make one goblet of wine to appear into each of her hands before she took a seat next to Emma (though not too close) and she offered one of the goblets to her wife.

The pair sat in an awkward silence as they usually did, but it seemed to be almost amplified this time. They might not have verbally agreed to the purpose of this picnic but they were both aware of the reason that they were here. However, their relationship was confusing enough as it was, so neither of them had any idea of how to actually discuss

Emma reached into the basket and handed Regina a sandwich and they smiled at each other for a moment before a silence fell as they began to eat their food.

The silence starched on far too long and the goddess of the pair quickly ran through all of the possible options there were for starting their discussion. This was something that she wouldn't be able to blurt out.

Since the kiss, they had seemingly been more comfortable when in the other's company. They could actually carry a conversation for at least a minute or two, so Regina had been sure that this should be easier than it would have been before. However, now that she was actually here, she couldn't put aside the thought that maybe it was unfair to ask such a relatively young mortal to be with her. She was the first being that she had met other than her parents and the White serving staff. What if Emma's feelings were simply out of convenience rather than her actually having feelings for her? What if the mortal began to resent her as she grew older and her immortal wife remained the exact age she was now?

Hades could feel the blonde's eyes boring into her and she realised that she must have looked deeply lost in thought, so she blinked out of her thoughts and looked over to the princess with a smile.

"Sorry, lost in thought," she explained. Regina saw that Emma was about to open her mouth to ask something and she had the distinct feeling that she was going to ask what she had been thinking about and she certainly wasn't ready to say all of her doubts aloud to the younger woman. She was sure that if she had voiced everything she had just thought about, she would terrify the poor woman, they needed to actually start some kind of defined relationship before they could begin discussing all of the issues they would be facing in the future. It was for this reason that she quickly asked, "have you been enjoying your time in Camelot, dear?"

Emma frowned at being cut off for a moment, but she found that she couldn't be too bothered by it. She was sure that Regina would eventually tell her everything that had been on her mind.

"It's been amazing," she replied, as she allowed a huge smile to spread across her lips. However, as she thought back to everything that had happened, the moments that she had spent with her wife in the same room stood out among everything else. She was sure that it would have taken a lot longer for them to cross that boundary if they hadn't been forced to. "And I know that it's dangerous to go to a time important to the story of a realm, but I could still see so much from _Le Morte d'Arthur._ I'm fairly certain that I actually saw Excalibur still in the stone during a hunting session with Lancelot. All of the Knights of the Round Table are already knights for King Uther…Arthur isn't exactly who I expected but I can see certain parts of his personality from the book in him. And learning from Merlin…"

Emma trailed off when she realised that her wife was probably not as interested in what she was saying as she looked. She was indeed listening to each word but there was so obviously something else on her mind, so she decided to think of a good way to transition into what they had really come here to talk about, "and of course, I got to spend a lot of time with you."

Regina blushed at the words and the genuine smile on her wife's face.

When the brunette didn't say anything, Emma shifted closer to her so that she could place her hand onto hers, and said, "we should probably talk about…what happened..."

For a moment, Regina thought to feign ignorance, but she decided that wouldn't be good for anyone. With all of her worries about Emma's mortality, she really needed to stop wasting time.

"Yes…I believe we do…" Regina said, though she notably didn't actually say what had happened, she was determined to allow Emma to lead this conversation for a while so that she could try to gauge exactly what she wanted.

"So…" Emma began, wishing that she knew what exactly she wanted to say. She knew how she felt but she wasn't quite sure how she would go about verbalising it in a way that could sufficiently convince Regina that she was telling the truth. She had noticed lately that people seemed to think of her as too naïve to understand exactly how she felt, especially her parents, and she was kind of sick of being treated like a child. Despite the first twenty-one years of her life being more than mundane, she had experienced more in the last few months than most people would in their whole life. Honestly, how many people could say that they had been to the Underworld, Wonderland and Camelot.

Regina inspected the blonde's face, and the distinct hue that was playing across her cheeks and she tilted her head questioningly. She could tell that the blonde was trying to think through exactly what she wanted to say and she would give her as long as she needed to work through all of her thoughts.

About ten seconds of silence passed between, during which neither of them even attempted to move their hands away from the others, and then Emma finally opened her mouth to speak.

"The kiss…" she began, deciding that one of them would actually have to admit that it happened, "I just need you to know that it was definitely something that I definitely wanted to do, no matter how sleep deprived I may have appeared at the time…I have wanted to kiss you again since I left for the Enchanted Forest…"

Regina found that she was completely lost for words. She had accepted some time ago that her feelings for Emma were not completely one sided, but actually hearing the woman admit it aloud somehow ignited something inside her that she hadn't felt since she had attended the wedding of Persephone and Athena: hope.

Emma took the silence to mean that Regina fully accepted her words, which was quite clear by the lack of any shock or disgust on her face, so she leaned forward.

Regina didn't move for a moment as the soft lips brushed against hers again, however, she quickly leaned back when her mind caught up to what happened. The blonde frowned at the action and looked very much hurt, had she been wrong about Regina's lack of disgust?

However, when the goddess saw the expression on her face, she realised what she had done wrong and brought her hand up so that it was on top of the younger woman's and she squeezed it reassuringly.

"When…you kissed me in our chamber, it occurred to me that I missed a crucial step in taking a princess as my bride…"

Emma's frown only deepened as she considered what she could possibly be talking about and Regina just couldn't help but find that ridiculously adorable.

"Courtship," she explained and Emma's frown quickly fell away and turned into a smile as Regina continued, "I don't believe that I will ever be able to gain full permission from your parents, so the process will already be flawed. However…we have much to learn about each other if we are ever going to be considered to be truly married."

The brunette looked at her wife cautiously and waited for some kind of reaction. She was slightly worried that Emma would simply begin laughing at her, but a few seconds passed and the princess's smile only widened. She had, of course, read many stories about the process of courtship and she couldn't deny that the thought of being allowed to experience it herself was rather exciting. She was sure that she had missed her chance when she had arrived in the Underworld and been informed that she was already married with no ceremony.

She leaned forward again, but this time her lips only brushed Regina's cheek before she leaned back and said, "I can't wait to see what you've planned."

 **Reviews would be much appreciated :D**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter twenty-eight

-Two days later-

Graham pulled the book in his hands closer up to his face and said, "stop that."

"Stop what?"

The demon rolled his eyes and decided that there was no point in trying to read so he pulled it down to look at the brunette sat cross legged on the floor and staring at him intently with an envelope clutched between her hands.

For the past couple of days, the pair of them had tried to forget about the visit from the leader of the Olympians. After all, there wasn't exactly anything else that they would be able to do.

Dawn had spent a couple of hours trying to track her mother down in Wonderland, but it soon became apparent that the pair were no longer in that realm. She had no idea where they were and a simple note was not justification enough for her to go realm hopping in order to find the pair, especially since there were more than a few realms without magic where she wouldn't be able to use her usual tracking methods. There was just no way that she would be able to find the two women faster than they would be returning home, though it was annoying her that she had no idea how long they had planned to stay wherever they were. There was also the fact that they might not be back for months, she had no idea what tournament Emma was currently planning to compete in.

She had been through all of these excuses many times with Graham, but he staunchly disagreed that she should be allowed to open the letter. They were both aware of the relationship between the two sisters, so there were a million possibilities as to what could be contained in the message that Zelena had left and Graham was convinced that Regina wouldn't be happy if they found out something that they were not supposed to know. On the other hand, Dawn was convinced that they should open it so that they could find out just how important it could be. She had said that if it was important, then they should be searching for Regina right now so that they could hand it to her in person. Especially if there was some kind of time limit on it. Pissing off Zeus was probably not in Hades' best interest.

"Stop looking at me like that," he sighed, "I'm not giving you the note."

Dawn narrowed her eyes at him but he remained unmoved. Though she knew that she would be getting exactly what she wanted in that moment if the demon was still afraid of her, she couldn't really find it in herself to wish that this was still the case. She found that when he wasn't constantly stuttering, he made much better company, but she was sure that she would have already gotten what she wanted the moment she had suggested it if he hadn't gotten so comfortable around her since they had started spending time together.

"We need to make sure that the note isn't a threat or something," she tried again, "don't you think that Zelena would be pissed if mom doesn't respond on time and it would start a war."

Graham just rolled his eyes and shook his head, "and you said that I'm dramatic," he replied, "Zeus probably knew that Hades wouldn't be here when she visited. She probably just wanted to request a meeting with her sister."

Dawn blew out a breath, she hated how he could be so logical when he wasn't afraid. She was sure that if Zelena was still here, he would still be very much close to a mental breakdown.

Dawn was about to open her mouth to say something but she was cut off when she felt something that she hadn't in what felt like months. She had a feeling of powerful sources of magic entering the Underworld and she knew exactly who it was. For a moment, she frowned when she considered why she hadn't been able to feel it when Zelena had entered her mother's realm, but it was probably simply because she had never met the woman before. Plus, she had expended far too much magic trying to make a plant grow.

The brunette shot to her feet with a huge smile on her face and Graham's eyes widened at the movement.

"What?" he asked.

"They're back," is all she said by way of reply before she began walking off in the direction of the throne room.

Graham blew out a little breath of frustration. Regina's return would inevitably mean an increase in anxiety for him, but as long as Emma was also with her, he knew that he would never have to be nearly as afraid as he was when he met Zeus. He quickly pocketed the note and rose from the chair so that he could follow the demi-goddess.

He soon fell into step with the woman until they made it to the throne room. As expected, a blonde and brunette woman stood in the room, Regina was asking Emma if she wanted anything to eat and the younger woman declined the offer.

Regina looked as though she was about to offer something else, but she seemingly noticed that they were no longer the only two in the room and she looked over to the entrance.

She instantly frowned at the sight of her daughter. She had been sure that she would be in the Enchanted Forest right now and she certainly didn't think that she would be spending her time with Graham. Indeed, she noticed that they appeared to be standing closer together than they had ever before.

However, before she could think about forming a fireball to hurt the demon for what she thought he had done, Dawn ran forward and threw her arms around her in a crushing hug. Regina brought her arms around the girl and Emma smiled widely at the scene before she offered Graham a little wave of her hand.

The demon returned it, though he was suddenly very afraid since he had seen the expression on the goddess's face. He could tell that she thought there was something going on between them and the expression he had received at the thought certainly didn't suggest that their imaginary relationship would ever receive her approval.

Finally, Dawn released her mother from the bone crushing hug and Regina blew out a breath of faux relief, "we really were not away for that long, dear."

The younger brunette just laughed and shook her head. She had of course gone longer than this without seeing her mother before, but never had she so desperately wanted the woman to return so that she could get her to open a note. However, now that her mother was stood in front of her, she wasn't sure that she could just blurt out what had happened.

Graham seemed to have the same thought process since he hesitantly placed his hand into his pocket. He clearly didn't want to give her the letter since he knew that the mention of her sister would just piss her off; however, he knew that if he didn't give it to her he would run the risk of pissing of Zeus and he honestly wasn't sure what would be worse.

"Why aren't you with Devin?" Regina asked, when no one said anything for a solid five seconds.

Dawn frowned, noticing that the fact that she hadn't even pretended to not know his name, before she replied, "we can talk about that later…but Graham needs to give you something…"

The man narrowed his eyes at Dawn who just smirked at him.

Regina looked between the pair and then over to her wife who simply shrugged. It was obvious that the dynamic between the two had changed quite dramatically since they had left and neither of them had any idea why that would have happened. However, there was also something more important that obviously required their attention.

It was for that reason that Regina decided to put aside her many questions for later when she and Dawn could talk one-on-one and she looked over to Graham expectantly.

He took a deep breath and pulled the sealed envelope out of his pocket. He had a moment of indecision before he walked over to the woman and handed it over to her.

Regina frowned since she didn't exactly get mail in the Underworld and she allowed her eyes to fall down to the careful writing.

'To my dearest sister'.

The goddess blinked at it a few times as she tried to take in exactly what it meant. She barely ever received anything from Olympus, in fact, she was sure that the last thing she had gotten from her so-called 'family' was an invitation to the wedding of Athena and Persephone.

"What is this?" she asked with narrowed eyes, looking straight at Graham.

Emma walked forward to peer over the woman's shoulder and frowned when she read who the letter was addressed to. She had a feeling that she knew why her wife was so angry to have received a letter.

Graham bit the inside of his cheek and looked over to Dawn, silently asking for help and the demi-goddess rolled her eyes. She knew why he was afraid in all honesty, Zelena was a sensitive subject and her mother didn't tend to react well to such subjects.

"Zeus visited two days ago…" Dawn replied, "she gave us that note for you when we told her that you were not here…"

Regina blinked a couple of times at the news. She had been sure that her sister found this dominion to be utterly disgusting, which was why she had never received a visit in all the time that she had been here. She was also sure that Zeus should be able to tell whether or not a god would be present in their abode at any given time, which meant that she had probably purposely arrived here when she knew that there would only be Graham and Dawn. After all, she would probably have never accepted to so much as exchange so much as a couple sentences, much less accept whatever was contained in this envelope.

"Zelena was here?" she asked slowly, clenching one of her fists, "she spoke to you without my permission?"

Dawn opened and closed her mouth a few times. She knew that her mother hated her sister but she wouldn't have imagined this pure anger just from hearing that she was here. Of course, she didn't quite understand how much Regina's hate for Zelena had grown impossibly stronger over the years, the woman had ensured that her oldest sister would end up with nothing for eternity, the thought of what she could have done to her daughter made Regina both angry and pissed off at the same time.

Emma inspected her expression. She could tell that the woman was falling into what she had mentally dubbed 'momma-bear mode' and she smiled for a second at just how protective Regina was. It was at times like this that she couldn't imagine why people would ever think that Hades was so evil.

"I'm fine, mother," Dawn assured.

Regina opened her mouth to say something else, but Emma placed a hand on her arm. The brunette turned to look at the younger woman and her anger instantly lowered, though it wasn't completely gone. The very thought of what her sister could have done to her daughter made her skin crawl.

She offered the envelope to Emma since she knew that she would probably end up just setting it on fire and the blonde took it.

The princess quickly opened it, trying to not look excited at the fact that she was opening something written by Zeus. Her eyes scanned over the words for a few moments, during which Graham and Dawn stared at her expectantly and Regina tried to look uninterested.

"We've been invited to dinner on Olympus," Emma finally announced, trying not to get too excited by the prospect.

"We?" Dawn asked with a frown.

Emma nodded and read out, "I would like to take this opportunity to invite you and your bride to dinner at my home."

"Mortals can't go to Olympus," Dawn argued.

"They can with Zeus's express permission," Regina sighed. She didn't know what her sister could possibly be planning be she knew that there was no way that she simply wanted to meet Emma. It wasn't as if she had ever been that interested in meeting her niece.

"We have to accept this invitation," Emma instantly said.

Regina shook her head vehemently, "we most certainly do not."

The blonde opened her mouth to argue, but she couldn't think of anything plausible beyond the fact that she wanted to see Olympus.

"I should go and prepare for dinner today," Regina announced and walked away without a further word.

Emma frowned and watched her go.

* * *

 _Zelena swung her legs around so that they were resting on the arm of her throne and she yawned audibly._

 _The goddess had finally gotten everything that she had wished for. Her insufferable sister was currently drowning in sorrow down in the Underworld whilst she was revered by all on Olympus._

 _Sometimes, however, she couldn't help but imagine what would have happened if Regina had been present in their father's last moments. The brunette would know that it wasn't she who had been prescribed to rule over the Underworld. Zelena had fully intended to follow her father's decisions during the naming ceremonies, but she found that she just couldn't do it. She couldn't damn herself to a life of darkness with only demons as company, it just wasn't fair that her father would want her to be Hades for the rest of eternity! She had done just as much as her sister in the fight against their parents so why should she be punished whilst Regina would be worshipped and respected for the rest of her life?_

 _Why would she condemn herself to such a fate when she had the opportunity to take whatever she wanted with no repercussions? Regina became Hades and she became Zeus, everything had been perfect for the past fifty-years._

 _Her relaxation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps and she looked up at the man walking through her throne room. The red-head tilted her head at the man and smiled at him._

 _"Don't you have some fish to tame, Poseidon?"_

 _Neal just shook his head and rolled his eyes as he clutched the Trident tighter in his hand and he also clenched his jaw._

 _"You know very well why I am here, sister," he replied with narrowed eyes._

 _The red-head let out a deep breath of frustration and finally turned herself around so that she was facing him, "and you know very well that I do not care for your bickering with Athena."_

 _"This should be a simple choice for you. I am your brother," Neal sighed._

 _"This is not my choice, I did not ask for a patron for Athens," Zelena sighed, "simply follow the king's request."_

 _"You and I both know that Athena will be able to win any test and that you could simply shift the odds into my favour if you simply visit Cecrops and tell him that your will is that I should become the patron of his city," the sea-god replied almost pleadingly._

 _Zelena simply shook her head, "I am under no obligation to assist in your pointless disputes."_

 _"And what exactly are you under obligation to do?" Neal asked with narrowed eyes. Since she had taken the mantle of Zeus, the red-head seemed to do not much more than lounge around her palace, sometimes finding amusement in the 'pointless' happenings of some of the more notable mortals._

 _Zelena was about to open her mouth to retort, seriously considering just throwing a lightning bolt at her brother, but her thoughts were halted by the sound of an extra three sets of steps hitting against the marble floor. The ruler of the Olympians looked away from the sea god and inspected the three figures for a few moments, before she stood from her throne._

 _"You're dismissed, Poseidon," she announced._

 _Neal frowned and looked over his shoulder and his frown only deepened when he saw the three figures entering his sister's throne room._

 _He was about to argue that he had been there first, but it quickly occurred to him just how childish that sounded, plus, there was also the fact that his sister clearly had no interest in actually helping him._

 _So instead of furthering the issue, he simply bowed his head to Zeus and the Three Fates, before walking towards the entrance._

 _Once the red-head was sure that her brother was out of ear-shot, she sat back down and tilted her head at the three women._

 _"I don't remember extending an invitation," she said with a certain amount of anxiety building in her stomach. She hated being in the presence of the only three beings who knew exactly what she had done to her sister._

 _"We have come in your best interests, Hades," the tallest of the three announced._

 _Zelena clenched her jaw and shook her head, "Zeus," she spat._

 _"To your subjects, perhaps," the Fate on the right sneered, "you are hardly fit to hold that title."_

 _The red-head blew out a breath of frustration, "a fact that you seem intent upon reminding me of at every possible moment. Which begs the question of why you have not simply told the masses of my deception?"_

 _"You have always been fated to steal your title," the Fate on the left replied, which was closely followed by the woman on the right hissing:_

 _"But you have always also been fated to lose it."_

 _Zelena bit the inside of her cheek and resisted the urge to demand they leave. That would get her nowhere and if they were offering information about the future, she might as well take everything that she could get._

 _"Hades will find a new Persephone. They will ascend together to the position always meant for them," the three women said at the same time._

 _Zelena opened her mouth to ask what they meant but they had already turned on their heels to leave._

 _"Wait!" she shouted, practically jumping up from her seat._

 _The Fates simply stopped, but didn't turn around as they waited for her to ask the question that they knew she was going to ask._

 _"How do I prevent it?" Zeus asked, desperation filling every one of her words._

 _"Without her Persephone, Regina will not be able to take your title," was her only reply, before they continued to walk away._

 _Zelena fell back onto her throne and blinked a few times. She knew that they had only told her this information because they had sworn allegiance to the ruler of Olympus. The moment that Hades 'ascended' their allegiance would shift and she would be left in the Underworld for the rest of her immortal life._

 _That was something that she would never allow to happen._

* * *

"Dinner is in three hours, mother," Dawn said softly as she leaned against the goddess's open bed chamber door.

Regina looked up from her position sat on the bed and stopped herself from sighing deeply. She knew that she wouldn't be allowed to simply be alone to think about what her sister was planning, but she had hoped she would get longer than a few minutes.

"I have been away for a long time…some organisation is in order…" Hades replied.

Her daughter quirked an eyebrow as she looked around her mother's spotless room. The immortal didn't really spend much time sleeping unless she was alone and wished to pass some time. Since Emma had arrived, most of the time that she had slept had resulted in some form of nightmare, so Dawn was sure that she was more eager than ever to simply stay up all night and read until her wife was awake.

The younger brunette pushed off the door and walked over so that she could sit next to the goddess.

"I understand that you and Zeus have some bad blood…" Dawn began after a moment of consideration.

Regina let out a small scoff and looked down to her lap, but she looked up when her daughter placed her hand onto hers. She was instantly reminded of one of the only good things that had happened to her as a result of her sister's plans. She was sure that if she had been Zeus, she wouldn't have attempted to find comfort in the arms of that stable boy.

"You can't honestly be thinking of denying Emma a chance to see Olympus?" Dawn said as she squeezed her mother's hand. "That is a once in a lifetime chance for a mortal."

Regina clenched her jaw. That had of course been one of her considerations as she had started to think about whether or not she had acted too rashly.

"Olympus is no place for a mortal…" Hades replied.

"What is the worst that could happen with you there to protect her?" the demi-goddess asked, "you are still one of the three most powerful of the Olympians and I hardly think that Zeus would do anything to start an outright war. She even made sure to visit the Underworld when she was sure that you wouldn't be here…"

Regina brought up her free hand and rubbed it against her forehead in frustration. The thought of seeing her family every couple of centuries made her nauseous enough, but going voluntarily somehow felt worse. However, now that she thought about it, she was sure that if her sister truly wanted her and Emma to join her for dinner, then she would find a way to force them. Insulting her sister by not showing up would certainly cause some upheaval that she didn't want to deal with.

"The invitation says that all of the Olympians will be present," Dawn continued when her mother didn't say anything, "you know that it isn't really an option to deny that…"

Regina let out a frustrated sigh. Even after all of the centuries that she had lived, she still hated politics. However, the fact that she had lived so long meant that she knew the value of not insulting her family members. At the moment, the worst they did to her was leave her alone in the Underworld, but she was sure that some of them could do much worse to her if they so wished. And she knew for a fact that some of them were so petty (or bored) that they would latch onto something as stupid as denying a dinner invitation. It was the kind of thing that mythology was written about.

"I…I suppose you're right…" Regina finally said after she thought all of this through. "But I just know that she is planning something…she was never exactly interested in my engagement to Ruby."

Dawn inspected the look on her mother's face and wished that she could tell her that there was a way that she would be able to not go to this dinner. It was painfully obvious that the woman was deeply afraid of what her sister could do to her wife. Zelena had taken everything away from her sister and Dawn just knew that there was no way that she would be able to deal with losing the blonde mortal to their ongoing feud.

"And this way, you can try and discover what her plans are while you are in the company of others. Would you rather just wait for something to happen?" the younger brunette asked.

Regina bit the inside of her cheek as she considered this. There was the distinct chance that her sister could just attack her wife during one of her visits to the Enchanted Forest when she wouldn't be there to protect her.

Hades simply nodded to show that she agreed, but she didn't say anything, but she brought her free hand over her daughter's so that she could show her that she agreed.

* * *

Emma scrunched her eyes together and twisted her body around a couple more times but she decided that her new position was no less comfortable than the last.

Finally, she blew out a frustrated breath and opened her eyes. When she was met with nothing but a dim darkness, she flicked her fingers and a small light appeared in her palm.

For a moment, she considered that she could just stay up all night and read as she had done many times before; however, she quickly decided against it. She was sure that she was tired and she wanted to go to sleep, she just couldn't seem to drift off for some reason and it was driving her mad since she had slept in this bed many times before with absolutely no issue.

The blonde simply lay there for a few moments, looking around the dimly lit room, trying to figure out what could possibly be different, but nothing stood out to her.

The young woman sighed and closed her hand around the light before the limb flopped to her side and her brow instantly furrowed when something occurred to her.

She hadn't slept in a bed alone since she and Regina had left for Camelot. She couldn't sleep because there was no one beside her.

Emma took a couple of deep breaths and considered her next move. She could just ignore her discovery and continue trying to sleep in vain or she could go and talk to Regina. She was sure that sharing a bed wouldn't fit with her wife's plans of courtship. But, then again, it wasn't as though they had followed the official track of courtship considering the fact that they were already married and she was sure that there was no chance in hell that she would ever get her parents' permission for the union.

Surely, simply sharing a bed so that she could actually sleep wouldn't be in the world?

For a few more minutes, she lay still, trying to see if it would be possible to sleep without bothering her wife.

However, when she turned over again, she was very aware of the fact that she didn't hit another person's body and she opened her eyes again with a deep frown.

There was no way that she would be able to deal with this for this for the rest of the night, especially since she didn't want to be drop dead tired when she visited Olympus the next day.

Apparently, Dawn hadn't taken too long to convince her mother that she couldn't refuse an invitation to dine with the Olympians. Just from the stories that she had read she was sure that it would have some strange and unusual consequences if they were not present.

She was sure that meeting Regina's family should be something that would cause her to lose sleep, but she just somehow knew that wasn't that main reason that she couldn't drift off.

With another sigh, the princess threw the duvet away from her body and stood up.

The harsh obsidian against her feet made her toes curl against the cold, but she quickly began walking towards the door and through to the hallway. The blonde walked through the hallway, once again flicking her wrist to ignite a small light to guide her way.

Finally, she came to stand outside Hades' bed chamber and she stood stock still for a moment.

It wasn't that she was too afraid to knock on Regina's door (far from it), she just didn't want her wife to think that she was a child who couldn't sleep alone. Plus, she didn't like the thought of disturbing the woman's slumber just because she couldn't sleep.

For second, she considered that she should just walk away and leave the goddess alone but when she though back to waiting for morning to arrive she decided that walking away wasn't an option. She was just too tired to pass time with reading and just laying in silence felt like it would be torture.

It was for this reason that she finally just knocked at the door and bit the inside of her cheek while she waited for a response.

She didn't have to wait long as she faintly heard something that sounded like "come in," filter through the gaps in the door.

Emma just as quickly pushed through the door.

She expected to enter to a pitch black room, so when she crossed the threshold, her eyes felt like they were burning when she saw the number of floating candles lighting the room.

When the princess's eyes adjusted, she closed her fist around her own light source and looked over to the bed. Instead of finding a brunette looking as if she had just been awoken from a peaceful sleep, she found Regina laid out atop her duvet with a book open on her lap.

The goddess frowned at the sight of confused (and very tired looking) Emma. She had honestly expected that it would have been Dawn who knocked. She wasn't sure what was going on with her daughter and Prince Devin, but she did know that the last time the demi-goddess had been in the Underworld for so long, she'd had an argument with Devin. She also assumed that it had been the younger brunette knocking since she has asked her mother to sleep in her room during their last argument.

"Emma?" she asked, moving the book away from her lap and onto the bed-side table, "are you okay, dear?

The blonde took another moment to look around the room. Other than some books piled around the room, there was very little personalisation to the chamber.

Considering the fact that she had presumably occupied this chamber for thousands of years, she would have assumed that there would have at least been a few distinguishing features.

However, the woman quickly realised that Regina was still looking at her questioningly and a pink hue played across her cheeks.

"This…is going to seem strange…" Emma began, suddenly wishing that she had actually formulated what she was going to say before she had knocked at the door.

Regina tilted her head when the blonde didn't say anything more. She had a feeling that she knew what this was about. Lately, she only seemed to sleep peacefully when she was next to the blonde, so she had simply decided not to sleep. Now it occurred to her that if her wife was having the same problem, she wouldn't be able to simply not sleep.

Without any need for further words, Regina smiled at the anxious princess stood so that she could fold her duvet away from the pillow.

"You look exhausted, dear," the goddess said before she gestured towards the free side of the bed and slipped onto her own side.

Emma stood still for a moment before she smiled when her tired mind realised that her wife had understood what she was asking and she walked over to the bed.

The blonde slipped under the covers with ease and let out a breath of relief.

Regina smiled at the woman for a moment, before she brought the duvet over both of them and waved her hand to snuff out all of the candles.

 **A/N I would love to hear what you thought :)**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N Sorry for the long wait, it's just the usual excuses of work and uni lol**

 **Hope of you enjoy the chapter and I will try and update again next week :D**

Chapter twenty-nine

 _It had been a few days since the marriage of Ruby and Belle and this was the last place that Regina wanted to be. She could practically feel people's eyes upon her as she walked up the steps and Regina couldn't find it within herself to give of them dirty looks._

 _She wasn't sure why she would need to see her sister so soon after she had been forced to watched the love of her immortal life get married. It still stuck in her mind how happy the brunette had been in that moment when she had said 'I do'. The looks of pity were more than she could handle and she was sincerely regretting accepting Zelena's invitation since this was no doubt going to be mockery disguised as 'important business'._

 _She finally made it into the throne room and she found the red-headed goddess lay across the throne with a book between her hands. Regina briefly wondered why Zeus never appeared to do more than lounge around her throne room and occasionally assert her dominance over other immortals and her mortal subjects._

 _"You summoned me," Regina deadpanned in order to get the woman's attention._

 _Zelena looked up from her book and smiled broadly at her sister. Just as she had expected she looked to be an absolutely miserable mess, she couldn't see that there was any way that this broken mess of a goddess would ever be destined to take her position as the ruler of the Olympians._

 _"I thought I should check on my dear sister, it couldn't have been easy to know that Persephone is married to another," she said, sounding almost sympathetic to the untrained ear._

 _"And you couldn't have achieved that by visiting me in the Underworld?" Regina asked with narrowed eyes, though she couldn't really find it in herself to sneer in the way that she usually would._

 _Zelena scrunched her nose up in disgust and Regina rolled her eyes deeply. Zeus's hatred for her dominion was well known though she was not quite sure why the woman was always so openly disgusted by the mention of the Underworld. It seemed to go beyond simply trying to annoy her sister._

 _"Should I assume that you called me here to insult me?" Regina asked with absolutely no bite in her voice._

 _"Not at all," Zelena replied, "I simply asked you here to see how you were, wouldn't want any innocent souls being dammed because you're sad."_

 _Regina rolled her eyes, but she still felt her jaw clench in frustration._

 _"I'm fine," she replied lowly._

 _Zelena smirked at the woman even more deeply and she swung her legs around the throne so that they were actually touching the ground._

 _"So the land of Hades isn't making your depression worse?" Zeus pressed, obviously not wanting this mocking session to end too abruptly since she couldn't often find reasons to invite her sister to Olympus._

 _The brunette blew out a breath and looked over her shoulder, as if she would be able to find a way to escape if she looked hard enough. To be fair, she could just walk away and return to the Underworld without another word to her sister; however, she decided that wouldn't be the best course of action. She still had some level of responsibility as one of the Olympians and that meant that she shouldn't piss off the most powerful goddess, it would mean a potential war that would just hurt mortals._

 _"The very thought of spending even in a moment in that place is enough to drive one insane, I don't know how you spend so much time there, dear sister," Zelena continued when Regina didn't say anything, "when father informed me that I would become Hades, I felt physically sick."_

 _Regina's eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to figure out if she had just heard what Zelena had just said. As horrible as living in the Underworld for all of these years had been, at least she had lived under the impression that it was the position that she was supposed to have. If she was actually supposed to be Zeus then that would change everything._

 _"You…" Regina began but she quickly trailed off when she found that she couldn't voice what must have happened._

 _"Father trusted me in his final moments to pass on the roles he assigned," Zelena supplied, "if you were in the same situation, you know that you wouldn't have accepted the title of Hades."_

 _The brunette swallowed hard. She could see choosing not to become Hades if she had the choice, but the fact was that she never had the choice._

 _"I.." Regina said as her mind worked through the implications, "you called me here to tell me that I was supposed to be Zeus?" She finally asked hollowly._

 _"If you were supposed to be Zeus, then surely you would be?" The red-head replied with a tilted head. She had never planned to tell Regina this piece of information, but at the pathetic sight in front of her, there was no way that she would be able to resist. There was no way that the woman stood in front of her would have been able to take back the title that she was technically supposed to have._

 _Hecate was the only other Olympian who would be willing to stand with her if a war did take place since it wasn't as if the goddess of the Underworld had taken the time to form any kind of alliances. It was honestly a miracle that she even had even one friend._

 _Regina opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words actually came out. She wanted to yell and scream at the woman who had taken everything away from her, but she was just so tired and drained. As she thought about what would happen if she ever did become Zeus, she didn't see herself being happy. She would be just as miserable as she was in the Underworld since there was no way that Ruby and Belle would be separating just because Ruby's ex was no longer Hades. It was obvious to anyone with eyes just how much the two loved each other. The only thing that she would achieve if she started a conflict (assuming that she would actually have the resources to win) would be that she would be miserably sitting on the throne of Olympus rather than in the Underworld._

 _Zelena smiled broadly at the mixed of expressions flashing across her sister's face and she rose from her throne to walk towards her._

 _"I have other matters to attend to," she said as she passed the woman and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I believe that it's time you return to your own personal paradise…"_

Regina drew her eyebrows together as wakefulness returned to her mind.

It had been a while since she'd had one of those dreams and it had certainly been a long time since she had allowed herself to think about that day. After Zelena had left, she had simply stood and waited for the shock to wear off. The knowledge that she was destined to be Zeus should have ignited a deep desire within her to get what she deserved, but she just didn't have the energy or the desire. Since that day, she had been more apathetic than vengeful when she thought about the subject. As more time passed, she found that she didn't even care about titles anymore, whether she was Zeus or Hades she would still be alone.

At the thought, her mind seemed to finally register that there was a weight on top of her out stretched arm and she opened her eyes to find a mess of blonde hair next to her.

Regina frowned for a moment as she experimentally shifted her arm and the woman next to her turned over so that she could burrow into her shoulder. The brunette smiled when her tired mind caught up with the fact that Emma had come into her room last night and that, despite the dream, she felt as though she'd had an amazing sleep, just as she did every night in Camelot.

Emma remained in her position for a few moments, before she seemed to realise that there was no point trying to go back to sleep right now and she opened her eyes to look up from her wife, though she didn't move away from her shoulder.

"Morning," Emma yawned and Regina smiled as she motioned for the blonde to move so that she could sit up.

For a moment, they simply stared at each other before the older of the pair seemed to remember that she couldn't spend an entire day doing that, especially since they had certain dinner plans later. At the thought, Regina looked down at her lap as Zelena's words from her dreams came back to her. She couldn't put aside the thought that there was no way that her sister had invited her just because she wanted to meet her wife, there was always an ulterior motive behind everything the vindictive red-head did and Regina would sooner wipe Emma's memories of divinity rather than allow her to be caught up in a feud that she didn't even know about a few months ago.

"Regina?" Emma frowned as she inspected the many feelings flashing across the woman's face, "are you okay?"

Regina offered the blonde a small smile of reassurance, though it was obviously rather forced since there was no way that she could smile broadly with all of the thoughts running through her mind in that moment. She had the distinct feeling that if anything did happen to Emma then there was no way that any prophecy from the fates would be able to give her hope that she could find another person to love. There was no way that she would ever be coming back from that, it was perhaps the only thing that would force her to finally give up and resort to the River Lethe.

"I'm fine, dear," she said when she realised that Emma was still looking at her expectantly, "I just have some preparations to make for dinner later. I believe that Dawn said that there was something she wanted to show you this morning…"

Emma frowned. She was sure that there was something that Regina was keeping from her, but she decided that there would be no use prying. She was quickly learning that it was unreasonable to expect the immortal woman to tell her everything. Hades had literally lived for thousands of years and she had probably already told her more than maybe even Dawn knew, so she just knew that she would eventually would be told if she was simply patient. There was also the fact that they were technically still in the courtship phase of their relationship, which was another reason that she shouldn't really expect the brunette to be so open with her feelings, even if she doubted that there was anything that the woman actually needed to prepare.

"Okay," she smiled, "I'll go and find her and see you later?"

Regina nodded with a grateful expression overcoming her face when she noticed that the blonde was letting go of the question that was no doubt on the tip of her tongue.

The pair sat motionless for a moment as they considered what the next movement should be. It wasn't as though a couple in the courtship phase should be sharing a bed, but they also shouldn't be married, so all of the rules had already gone out of the window. Emma finally decided what would be appropriate and leaned up to place a quick kiss on the older woman's cheek before she turned over so that she could stand from the bed.

Regina smiled at the woman as she walked towards the door and sigh heavily when the chamber door shut behind the princess.

* * *

"This is amazing," Emma breathed as she ran her hand across the patch of dirt that Dawn had presented to her. Other than the fence surrounding the portion of ground, it was immediately obvious that it was no longer the dead dirt of the rest of the Underworld. "How did you do this?"

Dawn uncrossed her arms and crouched down so that she was on the same level as the woman inspecting the wedding gift. She had originally planned to show Regina at the same time, but apparently the woman was off somewhere brooding about the dinner that they had planned later, she actually quite happy that Regina wouldn't find out just yet. This way, it would be easier to tell Regina when she saw the thriving garden, she might actually start to believe that Emma was truly her 'new Persephone'.

"I'm not really sure," Dawn replied, "I kind of just threw every spell I knew at it…so you'll have to figure out if anything will actually grow. If it doesn't, I guess your wedding present is this fence."

Emma chuckled and smiled as she fell from her heels so that she could sit cross-legged next to the small wooden posts. Dawn did the same and they sat in silence for a moment, before Dawn finally decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to get the answers that she wanted:

"So…how was your training?" She asked.

Emma frowned at the question as she considered exactly what she meant. After a few moments, however, she remembered that she and Regina's little adventure was originally meant to be an opportunity for her to train for the tournament, which she technically had done.

"We went to Wonderland and Camelot," Emma replied with a slight red hue spreading across her cheeks as she thought about what she considered to be some of the more memorable parts of their trip. Though she would be forever in awe of the fact that she had gotten to learn sword play from Lancelot and that Merlin had personally trained her in magic, there were parts of the trip that she found far more memorable. Like getting to share a bed with Regina, having one of their first real kisses and then agreeing to let Regina court her.

The brunette raised an eyebrow at the woman and smirked slightly at the expression on her face. With all of the commotion of the dinner invite the previous day, she hadn't had the chance to ask her mother how things had gone, but now she was sure that they must have gone well.

"Camelot?" She asked, deciding that it would only make her step-mother an awkward mess if she started asking her what progress they made in her relationship.

"Regina said that it would be the best place to learn swordplay…Arthur and Merlin 'saved' us from some bandits and then we were invited as special guests of the king," Emma explained. She was still honestly surprised that these kinds of things happened to them, she was fairly certain that if she hadn't been travelling with a goddess then nothing would have happened. It almost felt as though the immortal attracted adventure wherever she went.

"Of course, you were," Dawn laughed, though she had a feeling that the blonde wasn't telling her everything. "Interesting things always seem to happen to mom, that's why she won't go anywhere of anything important is happening. It would probably completely rewrite the story."

"She did explain that to me," Emma replied as she tried not to pout at the fact that she had only gotten to meet Arthur during his womanising prince stage, rather than being able to great King Arthur Pendragon who she had spent so many years reading about. She couldn't really complain though considering that she would have never imagined herself leaving the White Palace, let alone being sat in the Underworld talking to a demi-goddess who also happened to be her step-daughter. Overall, she really had to say that she was actually enjoying her life more than she had since she was old enough to know what boredom was.

Dawn nodded and then tilted her head at the pensive expression that overcame the blonde's features and she asked, "is there anything else that happened?"

Emma blinked out of her thoughts and blushed profusely when it occurred to her just what she had missed from recounting of events. She could just lie and say that training was the most important part of the trip, but she realised that there was no reason to. It was hardly a secret that Dawn was all for her mother's marriage, so it only made sense that she would be happy about the huge developments that had during their little vacation.

"Regina…asked if she could court me…" Emma said slowly as she watched carefully for Dawn's, despite all of her confidence in the young woman, she couldn't help the slight doubt that was currently invading her mind. What would she do if Dawn was secretly actually against her mother falling for a mortal? It all sounded so impossible on paper but Emma found that when she was with Regina, she almost forgot that she was in the company of a being who had been around almost as long as time. Regina just felt like a person to her.

Dawn began to slowly smirk as she nodded, "you're already married and sharing a bed and you think that you should now start the courtship process?"

Emma just frowned at the reply and furrowed her brow as her mind worked through the brunette's words, "how would you know that we shared a bed?"

"The mirrors talk, princess," Dawn laughed and Emma's eyebrows shot up at the implications. However, she just shook her head to push it aside so that she could focus on the matter at hand. She would later ask Regina to move the mirror out of what she was hoping would become their room.

"So…you're okay that…"

"Considering that you're already my step-mother, I hardly think that this is the time for me to start complaining," Dawn laughed.

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, before it turned into a complete smirk when something occurred to her. She had noticed the change in dynamic between Dawn and Graham and now seemed as good a time as ever to ask the brunette about it.

"Have you been back to my parent's palace lately?" she asked as she looked back down to the fertile ground next to her.

Dawn frowned at the question and she shook her head, "was I supposed to?"

"Well, I just assumed since Devin is probably still there, right? Killian didn't seem as though he was ready to leave any time soon."

The brunette sighed and blew out a breath as she realised exactly what the blonde woman was doing. She always forgot just how smart the princess actually was since her sheltered life left her with very little common sense.

"I…have no idea where Devin is…" she replied as she looked down at her lap. A sudden guilt began to eat at her stomach when she realised that she couldn't think of the last time that she had mentioned the man who she was technically in a committed relationship with.

Emma just raised her eyebrows and looked at the immortal woman expectantly as she simply waited for her to elaborate on what she meant.

Dawn sighed and finally looked up at the other woman, "I've been spending my time…in the Underworld while you and mother were realm hopping…"

The blonde nodded and asked, "and you have been spending all that time with Graham?"

The demi-goddess cringed at the words and she prayed that she wasn't actually blushing at the thought of the man who she supposed was her first crush. He was the first and only man she had known until she had left the Underworld for the first time. Even years later, it was undeniable that he was one of the most physically attractive men she had ever met and as he slowly got less and less anxious around her, she found that he was far more than just physically attractive.

"Does that blush mean what I think it does?" the blonde asked with a smirk. She did like Devin during her brief interaction with him, but she didn't really feel like she was looking at True Love when they were together. Even if her parents were not perfect, she had always been able to tell that they loved each other, there was also a certain amount of spark between them that just wasn't present between Devin and the young woman who he had no idea was going to live for the rest of eternity.

"I'm…not sure…" the brunette admitted as she looked down at the ground again.

"You could just talk to your mom about this?"

"She might murder Graham if she thought there was a possibility," Dawn replied with genuine concern dripping through each of her words. "I don't want her to know until…I know," she added, making sure that she didn't say the possibility aloud.

"She wouldn't kill him…" Emma replied with a small frown, at Dawn's sceptical look, she added, "I mean…he's immortal, right?"

The brunette smirked at this and nodded, "I suppose, but for now, could you please do me a favour?"

The princess nodded without hesitation and motioned for the other woman to tell her what she wanted her to do:

"Could you just keep mom distracted with the courtship thing until I figure everything out?"

Emma just laughed and nodded again, "I'm sure that I can manage that."

 **Reviews would be much appreciated, always love to hear what you thought :D**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N This chapter took me a long time to write because I just couldn't seem to get it how I wanted it and I'm still not sure about it...**

 **So apologises in advance if this is bad but I just wanted to get it out of the way so that I could finally move onto writing the next chapter**

Chapter thirty

"You're going to be late, mother," Dawn called as she walked straight through the doors to Hades's chamber without bothering to knock.

Regina just rolled her eyes without turning around and continued on her current mission.

"I will be ready soon," she replied and picked up one of her dresses before she threw it back down onto the bed.

"Are you seriously concerned about what to wear?" Dawn laughed when her eyes fell onto the many dresses and top and pants combinations that her mother had laid out around her room. Maybe she hadn't be overstating things when she had said that she had a lot of preparation to do for this dinner?

Regina finally looked over her should with an exasperated sigh and she simply just shrugged since she couldn't think of a good way to reply to that. Dawn was technically right that she couldn't choose what to wear but she couldn't help the thought that there was something much deeper to her inability to pick a simple outfit. It wasn't as though she particularly cared for what she was wearing at any given moment, so long as it was comfortable and fit the occasion, she was happy. It just so happened that she was quite comfortable wearing elaborate dresses with corsets most of the time and if she wasn't wearing something that would take hours to put on without magic, she was wearing a simple combination of tight pants and a loose shirt.

Somehow, though, nothing seemed right for her trip to Olympus.

All of her gowns screamed 'Hades' and she was sure that the last time that she had worn one of them was before they had gone of their little 'adventure'.

"I'm…not worried about it," she finally replied, though the fact that she was still staring at each of the outfits.

Dawn just rolled her eyes and walked further into the room so that she could sit on the only portion of the bed that wasn't covered in clothes.

"Emma is freaking out as well, you know?" the younger brunette chuckled, "she said that she doesn't know what the expected attire is for Olympus."

Regina just shook her head and sighed again. She remained in silence for a moment, before she asked tentatively, "do you…happen to know what she is planning to wear?"

Dawn quirked an eyebrow at her in disbelief, "I think she settled on a purple tunic, that's as much as I know."

Her mother nodded and her eyes scanned over to the pants, it would make sense if she wore the same kind of clothing as her wife, right?

"What exactly are you worried about, mother?" Dawn asked after the silence went on for far too long, she had never seen the woman so openly nervous and it was honestly making her slightly nervous since she relied on her mother to be the most unmovable person in every realm. But when it came to anything to do with Zelena, she knew that she was no longer Hades, the goddess of the Underworld, she was Regina, the sister of Zeus.

"Emma…has never treated me as if I'm…" she began, but she trailed off when she realised that she had no idea how she actually wanted to finish that sentence,

"…Hades?" Dawn supplied after a moment of silence.

Regina took in a sharp breath, but nodded despite this and then she continued what she was going to say, "every single person on Olympus will treat me as the ruler of the Underworld, they all think of me as the villain…"

"And you're worried that they will convince Emma of that?" Dawn sighed as she shifted so that she was closer to her mother and she placed her hand onto her knee. "Emma has agreed to allow you to court her despite everything she has ever heard or read about you. She has the resources that she needs to leave whenever she wishes to and she chose to travel with you. I don't think that there is anything that anyone could say to change the fact that she loves you."

Regina's eyes widened and she looked at her daughter in disbelief , but she made no attempt to deny the young woman's words, mostly because she had to admit that she liked the sound of them, especially considering how certain of herself Dawn sounded when she said them.

Dawn just chuckled at the look on the woman's face and shook her head. She was beginning to think that she was wrong when she thought that Zelena was the only one who could make the immortal fall out of her usual persona, whenever she thought of Emma, she looked more like a teenage girl then a goddess.

"You are due to leave in fifteen minutes, mother, just pick something to wear. Whatever it is, I'm sure that your dear wife will love it," she laughed as she stood from the bed, making sure to put more emphasis on the word 'love' than was necessary.

Regina sighed for what felt like the millionth time and watched her daughter leave the room. Once the door shut behind the young woman, she turned her eyes back to the clothes on the bed, but this time, she had a grin pulling at the corner of her lips as she leaned forward and picked up a pair of pants and a red tunic that she knew would compliment Emma's purple one.

* * *

Emma's mouth hung open slightly as she walked with her wife. She wanted to say something along the lines of 'this is amazing' or 'Olympus is so beautiful' but she found that she couldn't form either phrase. Her mind was too busy looking at everything and everyone around her. The princess couldn't put aside the thought that everyone knew exactly who she was and that was the reason for all of the filthy looks that she and Regina were receiving, but she couldn't bring herself to throw any dirty looks back. For one, she was simply in awe, and for two, she didn't exactly know who each of these people were by sight, so she could only assume that it was safer to not potentially offend some of the most powerful gods and goddesses. Despite this, she still felt a certain amount of anger at the thought of what these people were saying about her wife, She had no doubt that most of them were fixated on the fact that Regina had technically kidnapped her and taken her away from her family, but Emma had never once felt that way. She felt freer under the care of her 'captor' then she ever did when she was ward to her parents.

There was also the fact that there was no way that she could now be considered to be her wife's captive considering the fact that she was allowed to leave the Underworld whenever she wished to, but she did suppose that there were not many people who would understand why she would choose to live in the land of the dead when she could go wherever she wanted to. In fact, she wasn't sure that she even knew how to explain it, she just felt like she was home when she was there, even if it had only been a few months since she had even discovered that it was actually a real place. Emma allowed her gaze to fall over to her other side and she grimaced when she noticed the look on her wife's face. Regina looked more worried than she had ever seen her look since she had met her and the blonde had a feeling that she knew exactly why that expression was on the older woman's face. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Hades didn't like the prospect of being around her family members and Emma could honestly see why. Every single person they passed on their long walk up to the palace at the top seemed to be heavily judging Regina and her wife and Emma was having an overwhelming urge to hit one of them for making that expression come over her face. Instead of pissing of an immortal, however, she decided that there was a more peaceful way to help the older.

After a moment of contemplation, the princess reached her hand over so that she could entwine her fingers with the brunette's as they continued to walk.

Regina's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected contact and she furrowed her brow down at their joined hands. She was honestly surprised that she was still able to walk in a straight line since the surprise was still coursing through her body and it was only intensified by the feeling of the blonde squeezing her hand in reassurance.

The brunette felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips; however, it was completely wiped away when she heard a very distinctive voice behind her.

"Regina?"

Emma frowned when Regina's hand slipped out of her own and each of their feet stopped in their tracks to the dinner which she was fairly certain they were close to being late to at this point. She also felt a lump rise in her throat when she had a feeling that she knew exactly who it was who was who wanted to speak with Regina. There was a certain familiarity to the voice that she could feel herself flush at. She couldn't exactly place the reason, but she didn't like the thought of someone who knew her wife better than she did who wasn't either Dawn or Graham.

"Ruby," Regina said through gritted teeth as she turned around with what was possibly the tightest smile in the history of the universe, "and Belle," she sighed when she could finally see that her ex wasn't alone.

Emma quirked an eyebrow as she also turned around and she looked between the two brunettes. She had a feeling that she knew exactly who the taller of the pair was, but she honestly couldn't think of who the other woman could have been. She remembered that Regina had mentioned that Persephone had remarried but that had been mixed in with the revelation that she was meant to Zeus, so she wasn't really sure that she could remember who it was that Persephone had married.

There was also the fact that she wasn't completely sure that this 'Ruby' was even Persephone, even though the look on Regina's face strongly suggested that this wasn't just some random goddess.

Emma tilted her head at the pair and reached down to bring her fingers around Regina's once again and the silence began to reign on among the four women.

Regina's muscles tensed again and she looked to Emma cautiously, but when she received another reassuring squeeze, a small smile began to tug at the corner of her lips.

Ruby's eyes shifted between the pair, almost as if she was suspicious of something, even though she had known that Hades and her wife would be coming to Olympus for dinner. There was a part of her that still couldn't quite believe that the Regina she had known during the war of the Titans would force a mortal to be her wife, but now that she was face-to-face with the blonde, she couldn't help but feel as though all of the rumours had been wrong. This woman didn't look as though she was being held against her will, in fact, from the way that she was inching slightly closer to Regina, it appeared as though she actually cared about her feelings and comfort.

"This must be…" Persephone began, but she trailed off when she realised that she had no earthly idea what her name actually was.

"Emma White," the blonde supplied and squeezed Regina's tensed hand again. It was obvious that this was an interaction that her wife would have much rather have avoided for the rest of her immortal life, in fact, it was hard to believe that the goddess of the Underworld had ever been comfortable enough around Persephone to ask her to be her wife.

Emma smiled at the two goddesses before her and she had to stop herself from smirking when she noticed just how uncomfortable both Ruby and Belle looked. She was sure that she should not have been enjoying their discomfort, but she couldn't help but feel as though they deserved it for judging her wife so heavily. She hated to think of what these people were saying about Hades after the rumours spread about her forcibly taking a wife. They all no doubt thought that she was some kind of villain. They had no idea how sweet the woman could be and how fiercely she would protect people who she cared about and the sudden thought began to amplify Emma's anger and frustration at these so-called divine people. She had always thought that gods and goddesses would be above the kind of pettiness that mortals had to endure, but she could now see that it was only experienced on a greater level since these immortals could have their relationship drama continue for the whole of existence.

"And you are?" Emma asked after a moment of consideration and the smirk on her face only widened when she saw the look on Ruby's face at the brazen question.

The taller brunette opened her mouth to say something, but the shorter of the pair grabbed her arms and offered Emma a reassuring smile, as if it would erase whatever scathing words her wife was about to say.

"This is Persephone and I'm Athena," Belle supplied and Emma quirked an eyebrow at the fact that she had chosen to not introduce herself with her real name. Just because she was willing to be polite to a mortal, maybe that didn't mean that she respected her enough to tell her who she really was?

Emma looked up to Regina, who was still adamantly keeping her mouth closed. The goddess turned her eyes to the blonde and Emma could almost swear that she was biting the inside of her cheek. She was most likely coming up with some way that she could get out of this painfully awkward situation.

The princess just squeezed her hand and began to take steps back towards their destination.

"As…lovely as it was to meet you both, we should both really be going. I would hate to insult Zeus," Emma announced and left no room for argument as she started to drag Regina along with her (not that the woman was putting up much resistance to the action).

The brunette looked over her shoulder for a moment at the two goddesses who were currently whispering to each other (no doubt Belle was trying to talk some sense into Ruby about something) but she quickly turned her attention back to the woman walking beside her.

"That was…thank you," Regina sighed and Emma smiled broadly at the relief on her face. It was hard to believe that the brunette had ever been in love with that Persephone considering just how happy she looked when walking away from her. A small blush formed on the princess's face when the thought occurred to her that, perhaps, Regina didn't need to feel jealousy toward Athena and Persephone when she had her own wife standing next to her. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she allowed herself to believe that the Fate's words had come true. However, the smile faded when the usual doubts ran through her mind, not matter how much she loved Emma, it didn't change the fact that she was immortal and it would just be the cruelest turn of fate if her 'new Persephone' was fated to die in only a handful of decades at the most.

Emma smiled in returned and nodded since she decided that she didn't need to reply and they continued to walk in silence for a few moments until they finally made it up to the bottom of a set of marble white steps. The mortal's feet faltered and she swallowed hard as she looked more closely at the building that she had been trying not to stare at what had been in sight since the moment that they had arrived on Olympus.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but the palace looked a whole like the one that sat in the centre of the kingdom of which she was technically the heir. Maybe there wasn't that much variation when it came to ornate palaces? They were all very much awe-inspiring, but she couldn't help but think that she should have been more impressed by the sight of the Olympian palace than she had been when she had first in the same type of building in the Underworld.

With their hands still entwined, Emma smiled at her wife as reassuringly as possible and she asked, "are you ready for this?"

Regina blew out a breath and nodded apprehensively, "I suppose I am as ready as I will ever be."

 **Reviews would be much appreciated and feel free to let me know how to make this chapter better if you have any ideas...**


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter thirty-one

"Where are the others?" echoed throughout the domed dining room and Zelena tore her eyes away from the nail that she had been lazily inspecting for the past five minutes.

The red-head quirked an eyebrow at the man approaching her before she smirked and said, "did you honestly believe that every Olympian would be coming to dine with Regina and her little mortal captive?"

Neal sighed and rolled his eyes at the same time as he walked across the hall to join his sister at the unnecessarily long table. It appeared as though she had ordered for every place to be set, so he could only assume that she had planned to trick Regina from the moment that she had passed on the invitation to this meal. There was no way that Hades would have agreed to have dinner with the two people who had basically banished her to the Underworld and even if he had no idea what exactly she was planning he had no doubt that it was aimed at destroying whatever happiness that their sister had found.

Poseidon slipped into the seat next to Zeus and looked at her questioningly, "and why exactly am I here?"

"I thought that this Emma White should have the opportunity to meet both of her wife's closest siblings," Zelena replied as if it should be obvious.

"You mean the same siblings who Regina has not set eyes on for more than two centuries?" Neal retorted.

The red-head just smirked at her brother. She knew that he was more or less on her side since he had been one of the first to know what she had done, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that he wasn't quite as against Regina as she was, but he would most likely stay on her side out of the pure shame of being party to banishing her to the Underworld.

"Then it's high time that we have a reunion, don't you think?" Zelena replied, "and what better time than Regina finally getting married after all of these centuries?"

Neal just sighed. Zelena had become increasingly insufferable since she had taken on the mantle of Zeus. At least in the beginning, she didn't act quite as entitled since the fact was that she wasn't entitled to the throne of Olympus. Of course, she now well and truly believed that she had every right to the name of Zeus, it was obvious that there was nothing she wouldn't do to keep it. That could even involve killing a mortal prematurely rather than simply waiting for the princess to die of natural causes. To be fair, there was a lot that could happen during that time but he hardly thought that Regina getting married meant that she would suddenly covet a title that she had given up on while she was in the throes of heartbreak.

Neal was about to open his mouth to ask her exactly what the meaning of this invitation was, but he instead clamped his mouth shut when he heard the sound of footsteps.

Instantly, the two gods turned their attention to the pair approaching the entrance, still hand-in-hand. Neal raised both of his eyebrows at the sight of their entwined fingers and he started to feel a pit form in the pit of his stomach when he looked up to their faces and found a slight smile tugging at the corner of his sister's lips despite the fact that every other muscle in her body appeared to be tensed in intense worry.

"Regina," Zelena announced as she stood up with a massive smile spreading across her face.

The approaching brunette seemed to realise that there was someone else in the room other than Emma and she looked up to find Neal and Zelena sat at the other side of the room.

Hades swallowed hard at the sight of the siblings who she had no seen in such a long time and she felt a hand tighten around hers in reassurance. She instantly knew that there was nothing that could happen during this meal that would break her now that she had Emma. Just as long as Emma returned to the Underworld safely with her.

Despite this, she still brought her hand out of Emma's since holding hands with her wife didn't exactly project the image of power that was always good to maintain when she was with her insufferable family members.

The moment that her hand slipped out of the blonde's, she narrowed her eyes and looked around the dining room more critically than her mind would have allowed her to when it was distracted by the softness of her wife's skin.

There were only two Olympians in the room when there should have been eleven. At least if the rest of them had been here, she could have sat next to the person she hated the least and who was, most importantly, the furtherest away from Zelena. The fact that there was no one she hated the least in the room at the moment really threw a wrench into her plan to get through what already promised to be one of the worst and most awkward dinners of her immortal life.

Emma nudged the immortal next to her, as if to remind her that she would actually need to say something in response to her sister and Regina had to resist the urge to blow out a breath of frustration. She had planned to simply greet her sister and then not interact with her for the rest of the night but now that she was faced with the fact that she would need to speak with Zelena for at least an hour, she completely forgot what she had planned to say to Zeus when she had tried to convince herself that she would actually get through this unscathed.

Zelena smirked at the brunette who appeared to be frozen in place and she called, "are you planning to stand there all night or are you actually going to venture across the hall?"

Regina bit the inside of her cheek as a few dozen scathing replies came to mind and she felt a hand on her shoulder which brought her out of her urge to form a fireball at the woman who was already irritating her in the space of thirty seconds. The brunette looked over to the blonde next to her and offered the woman a grateful smile.

Emma's hand fell away from her wife's shoulder and she began walking towards the table, closely followed by Regina who seemed to have been reminded that she couldn't stand at the entrance for the rest of eternity, despite the fact that prospect sounded more appealing than spending time withe her siblings.

The blonde, on the other hand, could hardly stifle her excitement at the fact that she was meeting more Olympians. As much as she hated the Zeus that Regina had told her about, the fact was that she was still standing in Olympus in front of the ruler of the Olympians and who she could only assume was Poseidon (judging by his attire). It was difficult to not be just a little bit giddy at the fact that she was possibly one of the first mortals to be invited to the abode of gods and goddesses.

"I'm afraid that the others couldn't make it," Zelena said by way of answering the question that had not been asked aloud.

Regina sighed quietly since she knew that had to be a complete lie. There was no way that the other Olympians would not be here if Zeus had ordered them to be. She was also certain that Neal would have decided not to be here if it were possible to refuse but there was no reason to question her anymore since she was sure that the less people who were here the less time she would have to stay here.

Emma slipped into the chair next to Neal, obviously deciding that he looked far less threatening than Zelena did and Regina spent a moment looking at the seat next to her wife. However, she knew that it wouldn't be correct for her to leave the seat next to Zelena empty and she had to admit that she was rather happy that the princess didn't have to be the one to sit next to the woman who most likely much preferred for her to be dead (mostly in the interest of Regina having no semblance of happiness).

The brunette steeled her anxiety and moved forward to take the seat next to her sister, which only caused a smug smile to spread across the goddess's face.

"It has been so long dear sister," Zelena began once the two visitors had finally taken their seats.

Regina quite literally bit her tongue as she considered her response for a moment, before she replied, "which is exactly the reason I was so surprised to return to an invitation to dine with you."

Zelena smirked and allowed her eyes to travel over to Emma. The blonde was currently inspecting the food that had been placed in front of her and didn't appear to have any plans to actually open her mouth to say anything. Not matter how brave the mortal was, she could understand being intimidated when in the presence of the three most powerful gods.

"It was hardly right for your wife to have never met a single member of your family," Zelena shot back as she reached forward to pick up the chalice filled with golden liquid and brought it to her lips.

Emma frowned and looked into the chalice that was also in front of her. The entire table had been set impeccably, with every available inch of its surface covered in either food or the strange golden liquid that the blonde couldn't quite identify. It was almost believable that she had actually invited everyone to be present for this meal, but Emma was beginning to doubt that had ever been true. After all, with less people here, Zelena could focus on trying to discover whether their marriage was going to be some kind of threat to her keeping her mantle.

The blonde reached forward to pick up the chalice, deciding that a drink would help her to wet her dry throat which could mean that she would actually be able to contribute to the conversation. However, before she brought the metal to her lips, she felt a hand encircle her forearm in an almost vice-like grip.

Regina opened her mouth to protest the fact that Neal appeared to be hurting her wife, but no words came out of her as the god of the sea grabbed the chalice from her and turned to look at Zelena with narrowed eyes.

"Mortals cannot drink Ambrosia," he said through gritted teeth, seemingly not realising that he could have just said this directly to Emma.

The red-head quirked an eyebrow at him and for a split second, Regina could have sworn that she saw a murderous look cross their sister's face. However, Zeus quickly schooled her features and allowed an easy smile to spread across her face.

"I sometimes forget how fragile mortals are," she replied as she flicked her wrist so that a new chalice (this time containing red liquid) appeared in front of Emma, "I believe this may be more to your…liking, dear."

Emma opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, obviously trying to take in the fact how close she could have just been to a very painful death. After a couple of moments passed, she seemed to decide that this was not the time to dwell on the apparent 'accident' and she just nodded her thanks as she pulled the wine up to take a drink.

Neal placed the chalice he had just stolen from the blonde onto the table and cleared his throat when he noticed that there was one thing that Zeus had apparently forgotten.

Zelena stopped herself from rolling her eyes as the nectar on Emma's plate disappeared to be replaced with a bowl of soup that she could easily eat. She honestly didn't think that it would actually be that easy, but she would have thought that it would have been Regina who stopped her from trying to feed the most potent poison she could have found for a mortal to Emma. She made a mental note that she would need to let out her frustration on Neal at a later date and she instead smiled at the blonde reassuringly.

Regina clenched her jaw as a few dozen ways that she could attack Zelena ran through her mind, but none of them ended well considering the fact that she was currently sitting in the place with the most concentrated number of Zelena's allies. Hades may be powerful, but she knew that there was no way that she would ever be able to fight off every single god, goddess and magical creature. However, Emma placed the chalice down and shot Regina a look that said 'I'm fine' and the brunette relaxed a little, or at least as much as she could while Zelena was in the same room as her wife.

It was for this reason that she pulled up her own chalice and downed half of the sweet ambrosia and a warm feeling instantly began spreading through her. It had been a long time since she'd had either nectar or ambrosia and she had to admit that she was beginning to regret that fact. She had almost forgot just how good it tasted. The taste at least calmed her down long enough so that she didn't want to strangle her sister for supposedly forgetting that her mortal wife would basically have her insides burned if she swallowed ambrosia or nectar.

She placed the chalice back down onto the table and allowed herself to shoot Neal a grateful smile, even if it was short lived. She had had her suspicions that Neal had been part of the conspiracy to banish her to the Underworld in some way, even if it was just the fact that he had known that she was supposed to be Zeus and did nothing about it, she still had the right to be pissed at him. However, it now appeared as though he was starting to reach the end of his rope with Zelena's bullshit and she made a mental note that he could be a potential ally if anything ever happened.

About ten minutes passed as the three of them awkwardly ate. Zelena had clearly had plans to get as much information as she possibly could, but there was no natural way to get to that information when no one was talking. She was now sure that there was no way that Neal would help her as she had originally planned. Regina would never voluntarily start a conversation with her siblings and Emma appeared to be far too afraid to say anything just incase she insulted anyone who could just click their fingers and turn her to dust. That left the red-head as the only person who would actually be willing to ignite the conversation that she wanted to have.

``Are you enjoying living in the Underworld?" Zelena asked, resisting the urge to use some choice adjectives. There were many words that she could think of to describe that horrid place, but she decided that her tone of voice was enough to convey her disdain.

Regina narrowed her eyes at her sister and then turned her attention to her wife who was currently looking up from her soup and looking very much like a deer caught in headlights. She obviously hadn't expected to be spoken to by either Neal or Zelena since it had been increasingly clear that neither god were particularly fond of having to talk to a mortal. It was something that she had noticed when she had first met Regina and she honestly understood it. All three of the people currently sat at the table had lived for a longer amount of time than her mind was even capable of comprehending, so it would make sense that they would disregard her at first in some way. Of course, things quickly changed with Regina once she started making an effort to get to know her, but she didn't see that happening with her brother and sister-in-law.

It was for this reason that she hesitated slightly before she realised that the question required an answer and she finally replied, "the Underworld is beautiful."

Zelena frowned and looked over to Neal to see if she had heard correctly and her brother looked just as afraid as she did despite the fact that he had thus far been completely in opposition to his sister. Regina looked even more surprised than both Neal and Zelena. She knew that Emma enjoyed being in the Underworld, but she assumed that was because it was quite literally the first place that she had been other than the very limited grounds of the White Palace. After spending time in both Wonderland and Camelot, Regina had been sure that the princess would have been far less enchanted by the land of the dead than she had initially been since she could now see that there were many more possibilities across the infinite realms. However, when she looked at her wife, she could see that she adamantly believed her words. She truly did love the place that so many mortals spend their entire life being afraid of.

"Beautiful?" Zelena repeated and furrowed her brow when the blonde instantly nodded in affirmation. "Should I assume that dull grey is your favourite colour?"

Emma glanced over to Regina, who was currently rolling her eyes and she shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She was really being to wish that she had allowed Regina to reject the invitation. Even if she would have continued to be curious about Zelena and Olympus, at least she wouldn't have had to suffer the awkwardness of meeting Persephone and then having to be interrogated by a woman who clearly thought she was suffering from some kind of Stockholm Syndrome. She absolutely hated the thought that anyone thought that she was only 'co-operating' with Regina because of some kind of mental instability but she also didn't know how she could convince them that she actually enjoyed Regina's company (and the fact that she already possibility loved her).

The blonde bit the inside of her cheek for a moment and then looked back over to Zelena, "the Underworld may be dark, but it's far more interesting than anything that I have seen in Olympus so far."

Both Zelena and Regina's eyebrows shot up. The brunette of the pair wasn't quite sure if she was proud of Emma for talking back to Zelena or if she was worried for her safety. Zelena had been known to punish 'insubordination' quite harshly and Hades just hoped that she would have more self-control right now.

"I'm sure the wandering spirits of the dammed provide endless entertainment," Zelena shot back.

"Zelena," Neal hissed, but the woman just held up her hand to her brother to halt any kind of interruption and she looked at Emma expectantly.

"Asphodel is only one part of the Underworld," Emma replied, this time with no hesitation. "If Olympus is the pinnacle of existence, then it's rather strange that Elysium is located in the Underworld, don't you think?"

Regina opened her mouth to interject, though she couldn't think of a single thing that would diffuse the situation. Much to her surprise, however, Zelena only fell back in her seat with a smirk on her face.

"I see why you like her, Regina, she's more confident then any other mortal I've ever met," she chuckled, though Regina could swear that there was a heavy amount of contempt behind the laughter. "Though, if memory serves me correctly, the only thing remotely of interest in Elysium is that ridiculous tournament. Honestly, where is the fun in the dead fighting to the death? I suppose it was fascinating when I heard that my dear niece came close to death while fighting for immortality, but one pique of my interest in centuries is hardly significant."

Emma glanced over to Regina again, who was currently clenching a fist on the table. The blonde knew that it was because she hated being reminded of the day that she had nearly lost Dawn and she silently wished that she had sat next to Regina so that she could have placed a reassuring hand onto hers.

She pushed the urge aside and turned her attention back to her new mission to prove Zelena wrong, there was just something about the smug look on her face that made her want to shut her down in any way possible.

"I will be competing in the next tournament," she announced.

Zelena tilted her head at this news, as if it was exactly what she had wanted to hear and she actually allowed a triumphant smile to spread across her face. She knew that she couldn't hurt Emma while she was sat in the same room as Regina and there was no way that she would be able to get the mortal alone, but if she got hurt in a situation she she was quite literally putting herself in danger, then it wasn't as though she could be blamed. At least not in any way that Regina could actually prove.

"How fascinating," Zelena smirked, "I suppose seeing my sister-in-law fighting in a tournament in which she is the only contestant capable of death would be worth the trip to the Underworld."

Neal just rolled his eyes and shook his head. Zelena had apparently forgotten all pretence that she was supposed to be pretending that she was only here to get to know Emma.

The blonde felt her mouth go slightly dry and she finally looked over to Regina as if she was pleading for help. Regina shot Zelena a filthy look and pushed herself up to her feet.

"I believe that we should be leaving," she announced, deciding that simply leaving would be the easiest way to get away from the ring of fire. Zeus didn't even look particularly bothered by the fact that she was planning to leave, so she could only assume that the red-head had heard enough.

Emma looked between her standing wife and her two siblings and seemingly realised that there was not going to be any objections to the pair of them leaving and she timidly stood up too. Regina quickly walked around the table and she placed her hand onto the princess's shoulder before smoke engulfed the pair and they presumably returned to the Underworld.

Zelena smirked at the sight and leaned back in her chair and let out a contented sigh.

Neal frowned and tilted his head at the motion, "the meal lasted all of twenty minutes, is that really what you had planned?"

"I didn't expect this to last even that long," the red-head laughed, "honestly, I'm surprised that Regina even showed up at all. The important thing is that I know more about Emma White then I did twenty minutes ago."

The god of the sea frown only deepened, obviously he couldn't quite comprehend what it was that she had learnt from that interaction. They knew that she apparently loved living in the Underworld, but that was hardly interesting information.

Zeus just rolled her eyes at her brother and leaned forward and clicked her fingers at the same time. Instantly, a figure came zooming into the room with an expectant look on his face that was halfway between a smile and a flustered look.

"What can I do for you, your highness," Hermes asked, seemingly excited about having the chance to do something for the red-head.

"I need you to inform Ares that I have a task for him," Zelena replied.

 **Reviews would be much appreciated and the next chapter should mark the end of the tournament plot line :)**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N I know this is super short, I had another scene planned for this chapter but I won't have time to write it before the New Year and i wanted to get this out for Christmas, so please forgive me :)**

Chapter thirty-two

-Two weeks later-

Emma rolled her head from side to side and swung the blade clutched firmly in her hand. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she allowed the power of Durendrial to wash over her. She had known since Dawn had 'borrowed her' the blade that it was powerful, but had yet to actually have the opportunity to use it in a real battle. In Camelot, she could hardly pull off the image of an innocent newly-wed with a sword that sucks the life-force out of people.

"Focus princess," a female voice called from a few metres away and the blonde blinked out of her moment of distraction.

Emma's arm went limp and the blade fell down listlessly with it as she resisted the urge to yawn and looked over at her step-daughter who was currently in the fighting stance, clearly waiting for the other woman to make the first move.

Dawn dropped from the stance and sighed deeply. It was becoming increasingly clear that the blonde was exhausted since the past two weeks had been purely spent training. When she wasn't sleeping or eating, she was in the courtyard with either herself or Regina sparring in preparation for the tournament next week. Even if Dawn could understand why the woman wanted to enter, she had to admit that life would be much easier if she was just focusing on the courtship that her mother was no doubt in the process of planning between her bouts of worry for the young princess.

"Sorry," Emma replied, this time completely failing to stifle her yawn as she brought her free hand to cover her mouth.

The brunette rolled her eyes and threw her sword to the ground to signify that the training session was officially over and she walked over to the other woman.

The blonde was about to open her mouth to protest that she was ready, but Dawn held up her hand to cut her short.

"It will do you no good to be exhausted when a spirit is swinging a sword at you, maybe you could use a day off?" she suggested once she was sure that she was within ear-shot.

Emma thought about attempting to protest again for a moment, but she quickly decided against it. A good portion of her muscles hurt because of her need to spar as much as possible before the tournament. She didn't want to admit it but she was actually nervous and was beginning to wonder if it was actually worth it, she could just spend her time with Regina rather than risking her life for a pointless cause. But there was just something within her that couldn't give up now, especially since she had told Zeus that she would be competing. It felt somehow wrong to be made a liar before the ruler of the gods. But the fact remained that she still had a week and a half before she would need to compete, so perhaps it couldn't hurt to have some time away from training?

The blonde's shoulders slumped and she blew out a breath of frustration that her body seemed to have finally reached her limit, but she still nodded and sheathed her sword at her side.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," Emma replied, with a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips at the thought that she could actually go for a nap.

"Sweet dreams, princess," Dawn laughed when it became clear just how happy the woman was that their training session had been caught short. No matter how much the formerly repressed princess loved adventure, it couldn't hurt to have rest every now and again.

The brunette watched the woman go until she disappeared and she turned around to go and pick up the sword that she had thrown on the ground. She had planned to continue training with her step-mother for at least a couple more hours and she honestly wasn't sure what she could do for the rest of the day now. She hadn't been back to the Enchanted Forest since she had been to the tavern with Graham and she still didn't feel particularly comfortable with going to see Devin since she had no idea what she could possibly say to him.

Dawn stopped in her tracks when she realised that she was actually smiling at the thought of the time that she had spent with Graham in the tavern. She had been spending so much time with Emma since she and Regina had come back to the Underworld and she had found that their presence was the perfect excuse to ignore any possibility that she might have real feelings for the demon who had been her first crush. Now that she found herself with free time though, she couldn't help but think that the first thing that she would want to do was go and spend time with the man who was no longer quite as afraid of his own shadow as he used to be.

The demi-goddess made the decision that she would indeed go and see if Graham wanted to spend time with her once she returned the blade to the armoury, but her steps faltered when she heard the crunching of ground behind her and she instantly whipped around with the sword pointing in the direction of the unfamiliar presence.

The unfamiliar man held up both of his hands in surrender with no hesitation, but judging by his wide eyes, he was not particularly afraid of the young immortal.

"You really are the spitting image of Regina," he murmured as his eyes drifted to the point of the blade that was pointed of him, though he did not look concerned and Dawn drew back. Her arm relaxed, though she was prepared to rise the sword at a seconds notice. She could tell by the look on the man's face that he was not afraid of danger, but even an immortal would feel pain if a sword pierced their skin.

"Who are you?" she asked with narrowed eyes, feeling a strong sense of dèja vu despite the fact that she was sure she had never seen him in her life, he looked somewhat familiar the more time that she spent looking at him.

"My name is Neal but you most likely know me as Poseidon," he replied, finally putting his arms down now that he was sure that he was completely safe from any intention to try and run him through.

Dawn blinked a couple of times as she processed this information. Mal had been the only other god she had met in her life and now she had somehow met both her aunt and uncle for the first time in the past two weeks and she somehow knew that this had nothing to do with her and everything to do with Emma.

"Should I assume that Zelena has grown tired of delivering her own messages?" the brunette asked.

Neal's jaw visibly tensed at his niece's words, but he resisted the urge to retaliate. He was here to help Regina, after all, not to strike down her snarky daughter.

"You should assume that Zelena has finally lost her mind," he said.

Dawn frowned as she worked through what this could possibly mean. When she met Zelena, she knew that there was definitely something off about the woman, but she had too much composure for her to consider that she could actually be mad.

When the young woman didn't reply, Neal just continued, "she has made plans to kill the only person capable of getting in her way of maintaining her throne for the rest of eternity."

The brunette's frown only deepened at this, "are you talking about Emma?" she asked, knowing full well that he was. From the moment that she had learnt that the blonde was once called Persephone, she had known that she was something special, but the innocent princess hardly seemed capable of toppling centuries imof tradition.

Neal tilted his head at the girl, it was clear that she had no idea as to why Zelena could possibly be afraid of Emma's existence, which he only assumed could only mean that Regina also wasn't completely aware either. He had to admit that the saddest part was that Regina didn't even care about Emma's capability to get her out of the Underworld, she clearly would much rather just spend her time with her wife.

"Zelena has been made aware that Emma White will be participating in the Elysium tournament and she fully intends to take the opportunity," he replied, "lets just say that no matter how well the princess has been trained, she does not stand a chance against Ares."

Dawn's eyes widened and she was about to ask him to elaborate, but her attempt was cut short by the sound of approaching footsteps. She wasn't sure how, but the footsteps actually sounded angry.

"Dawn," Regina called once she was sure that she was close enough to be heard by her daughter.

The younger brunette took a deep breath and stopped herself from commenting on the edge of concern to the woman's voice. She could only assume that the goddess was not yet used to the idea that her child was immortal and was, therefore, not in any significant danger. Plus, there was also the fact that if her uncle wanted to do her any harm, it wouldn't exactly make sense fo him to make his attempt in his sister's dominion. He could just as easily make an attempt on her life in the Enchanted Forest and make it seem as though he and Zelena had nothing to do with it. But then again, Regina would always be her mother which meant that there was no way that she would ever be able to convince her that she didn't need to worry.

"What is going on?" Hades asked, standing firmly next to her daughter and looking behind her and the man with narrowed eyes.

Neal blew out a breath of frustration and crossed his arms over his chest. He hadn't planned to see his sister today. There was no way that she would take the news that Zelena was planning to take her wife away from her well. At least by telling Dawn what was going to happen, he could convince her to prevent it rather than Regina who would be far more likely to snap at this point and go after Zelena. The hate between the two sisters had been growing for centuries now and he was sure that this was exactly the kind of thing that could start a war that would put all of humanity in danger.

"I came to meet my niece, Regina," he replied while trying to look as natural as he possibly could.

Regina just narrowed her eyes further at him and set her mouth into a thin line.

"And why would it have taken you two decades to do so?" she asked with a tilted of her head, subconsciously taking a step in front of the younger brunette. Neal may not be as powerful as Zelena, but the fact remained that he was still one of the most powerful beings in all of existence, certainly strong enough to cause some damage that would ruin her day.

Neal just shrugged with his arms still crossed over his chest, "I had some spare time."

Regina was opened her mouth to make a scathing reply, but she was cut short when Dawn put a hand on the goddess's shoulder.

"He is telling the truth, mother," she lied, much to the god of the seas' relief. She had a feeling that she knew why he hadn't come to his sister with the information. Strife in a normal family was bad enough, but strife between the Olympians could be cataclysmic. "He was simply introducing himself to me when you arrived."

"Meeting your wife make me realise that I have been neglectful in maintaining contact with you, sister," Poseidon added, though Dawn couldn't help but think that he didn't sound particularly sincere. Was it physically impossible for her mother's family to be nice to her?

Hades looked over her shoulder to survey Dawn's face to make sure that she was telling her truth, but Dawn seemed to be the only person in existence capable of convincingly lying to her (and perhaps, Emma too if she ever felt so inclined to tell a lie). At the same time, however, she couldn't put aside the thought of how out of character this was. Her brother didn't tend to take any notice of her under normal circumstances, which could only mean that there was something not normal going on but she had no idea what could be happening that would make him go to Dawn for help.

"I am to believe that you simply came to the Underworld to meet my daughter and you did not think it would be appropriate to first come to me?" Regina asked, turning back to look at her brother.

"You're not exactly the most inviting of people, Regina," the man replied, "I did not intend fo this to take long and your interrogation is wasting my time immensely."

Dawn raised her eyebrows at the god in surprise, she had no idea where that came from but it sounded far more convincing than his previous statement. However, she couldn't put aside the feeling that Regina would never believe that he had come here just to meet her.

Hades looked back over to Dawn again, seemingly making sure that there was nothing wrong with the other brunette. Once she was satisfied that there were no marks on her daughter, she looked back to Neal.

"Next time you wish to my daughter, you should be aware that it is common courtesy to first address the ruler of a dominion before believing that you can freely roam," she said steely.

Dawn frowned at the threat. She could tell that it was partly because she didn't like the thought of any other god but Mal being near her, but this seemed to go far beyond simple over-protectiveness. There was pure hatred behind her words, which Dawn was sure that she would have witness if she had been there when Zelena had arrived to extend her dinner invitation.

Neal's jaw tightened and he looked over to Dawn for a moment. He had originally intended to provide far more information than her had been able to and he was almost tempted to blurt out what he had told Dawn to her mother, but he ultimately decided against it. At the very least, Dawn had enough information to figure out what was going to happen and she could take steps to ensure that her mother-in-law never competes. He was sure that it would only be a stalling tactic, but he needed enough time to ensure that his other sister gave up on her vendetta against Regina and her new wife, even if he had no idea how he could possibly do that considering the threat that Emma posed to Zeus's power.

"I will keep that in mind," he replied just as steely as she had said her own statement. He had the urge to throw in a comment about how he would never particularly want to be in the Underworld, but he decided against it. He knew that they would never be as close as they could have been if it was Zelena who had become Hades and not Regina, but that didn't mean that he had to attack her in the same way that their sister so enjoyed doing.

Regina continued to watch with narrowed eyes as the god of the seas disappeared. Once she was sure that he was gone, she turned to Dawn and proceeded to inspect her more thoroughly, as if double checking that she was completely unharmed.

"I'm fine mother," Dawn said, with a slight indignant laugh. She felt like mentioning that she was an adult and did not need protecting but with how tense the goddess was she didn't feel like the was the time to bring it up.

"Am I supposed to believe that he was only here to meet you?" she asked again.

"If he had another motive, he didn't bring it up," Dawn lied, already anxious to get away so the she could discuss what had happened with Graham. She knew that asking him to keep a secret from Regina would increase his anxiety, but she needed to talk to someone who would be able to help her stop any harm from coming to Emma. She was almost certain that Graham's life would be much worse if Regina lost her wife than if he lied to her for a little while.

Regina narrowed her eyes at her daughter as she tried to figure out if she was being lied to. She seemed to decide that if she was being lied to, the younger brunette was unwilling to tell the truth now and she had never been the type of mother to demand something before she was ready.

"Okay," Hades replied simply.

Dawn smiled, hoping that the smile wasn't too strained as she hooked her arm through her mother's and began walking them back towards the palace.

"I've been thinking," the younger of the pair began, "the princess seems as though she needs a break from all of the training, so perhaps you could start your courtship plan early?"

 **Reviews would be much appreciated :)**


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